Focus on the Family and about 60 other pro-life organizations are asking the U.S. House and Senate to suspend Planned Parenthood funding following a 107-count indictment against the group's Kansas affiliate last week.
Planned Parenthood is charged with performing illegal late-term abortions by ignoring viability testing laws and regulations, as well as falsifying documents to cover up those facts. The first hearing is set for Nov. 16.
The letter, which was sent to every senator and representative Wednesday, states: "Planned Parenthood operates around 860 facilities around the country, and there are approximately 40 states with laws banning late-term abortions. This conduct may be happening all over the country.
"We urge you to act to ensure that our tax dollars are not subsidizing abortion clinics that perform possibly illegal late-term abortions."
Other groups that signed the letter include: Concerned Women for America, Operation Rescue, Pro-Life Action League, Americans For Truth, Americans United for Life and several of the state family policy councils associated with Focus on the Family.
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action, said the 107 charges may just be the beginning.
"When an organization that receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars is charged with illegal late-term abortions, a congressional inquiry is necessary," she said. "At the very least, a freeze on funding is warranted as criminal investigations continue."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read Robert Novak's column A New Front in the Abortion Wars in the Washington Post.
Read previous reports from CitizenLink.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
