A human rights attorney reports that a whistleblower lawsuit against Texas Planned Parenthood has advanced another step.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a former Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast employee, Karen Reynolds, by the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ). Ed White, an attorney for that firm, says Reynolds worked in the Lufkin office for about a decade. "During that time, as the allegations say in the complaint, the corporate directors with Planned Parenthood instructed employees to boost their revenues by increasing the pay per visits of patients who were under government programs," White details. So, the abortion rights group committed fraud. "Planned Parenthood charged the government for services that were not provided to these people, or for services that were not medically necessary," the ACLJ attorney explains. "And that Planned Parenthood had a predetermined list of services that they would charge the government for, whether or not the patient charts showed that they received those services, or whether those services were medically necessary." Another charge is that personnel changed patient charts to match the bills. A federal judge has ruled against Planned Parenthood's motion to dismiss the case, saying that if proven true, the charges would involve fraud and violate federal law. The case now moves to the deposition stage in advance of a trial, which will probably take place next year. Texas recently decided to stop providing Medicaid funds to abortion providers. Operation Rescue not giving up on Kansas City facility Operation Rescue is calling for a criminal probe of the charges against a Kansas City Planned Parenthood that have been dropped after an eight-year investigation of the facility. Troy Newman tells OneNewsNow Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe asked for the charges to be dismissed. Planned Parenthood was accused, among other things, of performing abortions on minors without parental notification and without notifying authorities. "[Howe] had plenty of evidence to pursue this case, but because of his cozy relationship, and I think a criminal corruption scandal with Planned Parenthood, he dismissed these charges and is hoping it'll all go away," Newman states. He explains that one of the reasons for the lack of prosecution was the fact that records were supposedly missing. "Operation Rescue discovered that the previously dismissed charges -- the felonies, the serious ones -- [were dismissed] because of the record shredding [that] actually never occurred," the pro-lifer reports. "In other words, these records still exist. There was never a big record shredding under the Sebelius administration to the extent that these records would not be available for prosecution." So, Operation Rescue contends that Howe "lied in open court, saying there were no more records left and he could not pursue the case." Newman's organization will pursue ethics and legislative investigations of Howe and may ask the attorney general's office to look into it.