Planned Parenthood CEO and president Cecile Richards appeared today before the House Oversight Committee [video].
It got intense, but led to few answers–leaving many Republican members frustrated.
Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) spoke with Red Alert Politics after the hearing, saying he felt the Committee “didn’t get very good answers,” and that Richards “didn’t really have a good handle on costs–and which services made money and which didn’t.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who is the chairman of the committee, in his opening remarks issued a statement about the purpose of the hearing. The issue was to do with funding.
After a brief testimony from Richards, members from both parties had the opportunity to ask questions.
Republican members, including the chairman, sought to keep the focus on funding and spending–which included international funding, travel expenses, salaries, lavish events, and funding for their political 501c4 group, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
The questioning became quite heated, with interruptions and awkward responses. Richards also trouble answering certain questions, seemed hesitant to respond, and answered many times that she would have to get back to members.
Many Republican members wished to ask about decreases in services such as cancer screenings while abortion services increased. They also were interested about the issue of revenue from abortion.
At different times during the testimony, Richards was asked about her political organization. While she maintained the organizations are separate, she also made points throughout the hearing that advocacy and health care goes hand in hand.
Many Democrats praised Richards and her family personally and the organization’s services. Others took a partisan stance as they criticized Republicans.
With regards to the $127 million excess funds they have, Richards still claimed that they do not make a profit. Rep. Blum did point out that “it depends on how you look at it.” He reminded her it’s against the law to use federal funds to pay for abortion.
Richards particularly had trouble towards the end of the hearing, which she chalked up to being there for five hours.
The hearing concluded with the chairman asking Richards to clarify what was discussed throughout the hearing. This includes providing them with information based on the name and number of affiliates receiving majority of revenue from abortion services: which affiliates provide services; names of organizations and countries that give funds to overseas; duties and shared employees between Planned Parenthood and their political action groups; cost of reimbursements for contraception; travel costs; and political affiliations and donations.
As the chairman mentioned at the end, and as Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) told to Red Alert Politics, there is a proposal to involve a select special committee panel to investigate Planned Parenthood.
