WASHINGTON, January 20, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One pro-life group is demanding that the Obama administration ensure that federal funds meant to assist victims of human trafficking are not sent to the very organization that has repeatedly turned a blind eye to them – Planned Parenthood.
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser sent a letter today to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius concerning the use of the funds by three grantee organizations to sub-contract with Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion enterprise.
In September, Obama officials specifically prioritized abortion groups for anti-trafficking funds, and refused to renew a longstanding grant with the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops (USSCB) because they would not refer women for abortions.
Dannenfelser cited Planned Parenthood’s “repeated failure to protect vulnerable women,” and called it “the last place that victims of sex trafficking should be referred to receive the compassionate reproductive care that they deserve.”
Undercover investigations by the pro-life group Live Action last year showed employees at several Planned Parenthood affiliates appearing to aid sex traffickers in obtaining abortions and other services for their underage prostitutes. The videos helped spark a reaction in U.S. Congress and several state legislatures to work towards stripping Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding, costing the organization several millions of dollars nationwide.
“Sending victims of sex trafficking to Planned Parenthood would be an absolute travesty given that employees of the abortion business have been caught on tape showing a willingness to aid and abet alleged human traffickers,” wrote Dannenfelser.
The letter concludes, demanding that the Obama admin “assure the public that the three grantees receiving millions in taxpayer funding under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act are not subcontracting reproductive services to Planned Parenthood, or to any other abortion-centered business that has shown a willingness to aid and abet in the alleged trafficking of women and girls.”