SouthernWorldwide.com – A ban on taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, enacted by Congress, is on the verge of expiring. This development has prompted a Republican senator to call for an investigation into allegations that significant taxpayer funds have been utilized by the organization to promote transgender procedures.
Senator Hawley has expressed strong disapproval, labeling it “unconscionable” if billions in taxpayer money were to fund sex changes for transgender children. He is urging the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz, to initiate an inquiry into Planned Parenthood.
This investigation would be part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to identify fraud within federally funded healthcare programs. Hawley specifically requested that the investigative efforts be directed towards Planned Parenthood and its alleged role in promoting what he termed “transgender madness” among minor children.
Last year, Republicans successfully implemented a ban on federal tax dollars being allocated to abortion providers through a bill signed by President Donald Trump. However, this ban is scheduled to expire on July 4th.
Senator Hawley and other Republicans have made attempts to extend this ban. An amendment proposed by Hawley to the latest budget reconciliation package aimed to prolong the prohibition on Medicaid funding for abortion providers until 2035, but this amendment did not pass earlier this year.
His current focus is on determining whether the $1.5 billion in funding has been directed towards encouraging minors to undergo gender-affirming medication or to be referred for gender-affirming surgical procedures.
Hawley has accused Planned Parenthood of exploiting “legal loopholes to provide these dangerous and irreversible gender-transition drugs to minors without their parents’ consent.” This statement highlights concerns about the organization’s practices regarding minors and gender transition treatments.
The senator pointed out that the organization openly advertises its provision of sex-change drugs and referrals for transgender surgeries. He cited a recent report indicating a significant increase, specifically a 40% year-over-year rise, in Planned Parenthood’s provision of “gender-affirming care.”
Hawley’s scrutiny is directed at a financial stream between 2019 and 2022. This funding flow was detailed in a report by the Government Accountability Office, which was first published in November 2023. It is important to note that this specific GAO report did not explicitly state that the money was used to promote transgender surgeries or medication.
Hawley articulated his concern by stating, “In other words, billions of taxpayer dollars have been taken from those in poverty and the elderly and given to Planned Parenthood. Moreover, these funds apparently have been used to prop up Planned Parenthood’s provision of transgender procedures to children.”
