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INDIANAPOLIS, June 30, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Undercover investigators who gave the lie to Planned Parenthood’s inflated claims of being a vital Medicaid provider in Indiana have ridiculed the abortion giant’s defensive response as “laughable.”

The Obama administration has threatened to hold Indiana’s entire Medicaid allotment hostage unless it reverses a law signed in May blocking Planned Parenthood’s $3 million share. Earlier this month, a federal judge granted Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s (PPIN) request to block implementation of the law on the basis that the administration’s retaliatory move, if carried out, would greatly harm the state’s Medicaid dependants.

In an effort to prove false PPIN’s posturing as a critical provider for low-income women, members of the pro-life group Live Action released audio recordings this week of investigators calling 16 of the state’s 28 Planned Parenthood clinics to ask for Medicaid services. According to the group, Planned Parenthood staffers at all 16 locations simply suggested that patients go to nearby health clinics or state-assigned primary care physicians.

The organization retaliated against the video this week, pointing to superior office hours and acceptance of new patients as evidence to back their original claims.

“We focused on helping our patients – even those posing as ‘patients’ – to find reproductive health care during the short period of time we were unable to provide services covered by Medicaid,” stated Planned Parenthood as quoted by local NBC affiliate WNDU.com.

“We maintain, as we’ve said all along, that just because there are other providers does not mean they offer the same patient-friendly hours, are accepting new Medicaid patients or offer the same services that PPIN offers.”

Live Action president Lila Rose shot back in her own statement, saying, “The basis of these rationalizations is false.”

“In a matter of minutes, Live Action easily found numerous Medicaid providers in Indiana ready and able to accept new patients; Planned Parenthood’s own lower level staffers repeatedly confirmed other providers ‘have the same services we have.’ And most laughable is their claim that ‘patient-friendly hours’ are what set Planned Parenthood apart from the other 800 Medicaid providers in the state,” said Rose.

“But what’s not funny is that Planned Parenthood continues to concoct more propaganda as they work to deceive the public and try to sweep this exposé under the rug,” she added. “Women don’t need this abortion-centered giant for their healthcare but Planned Parenthood needs women and taxpayer dollars to continue lining their pockets.”

On Wednesday, Live Action followed up on the video evidence with a breakdown of Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid presence in Indiana. The group points out that Planned Parenthood takes in less than one percent of the state’s Medicaid patients, while performing over half of all abortions there.