HHS continues to defend secrecy surrounding Planned Parenthood grants at US Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – On behalf of a New Hampshire pro-life group, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a brief Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court that responds to the Obama administration’s defense of keeping certain Planned Parenthood grant documents secret. The documents specifically pertain to a non-competitive grant the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded directly to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in 2011 without going through state approval or standard protocols and despite the fact that the state decided not to fund Planned Parenthood that year.

In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit permitted HHS to shield information about the grant and the department’s discussions on how to portray the controversial grant to the public. ADF attorneys and allied attorney Michael Tierney represent New Hampshire Right to Life in New Hampshire Right to Life v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a lawsuit that seeks the public release of information under the Freedom of Information Act about a Title X “Family Planning” grant HHS awarded to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in 2011.

“Americans deserve to know if their hard-earned tax money is being funneled to groups that are misusing it,” said Tierney, one of more than 2,600 private attorneys allied with ADF, which in April asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the case. “The government is withholding documents that are critical in evaluating this apparently illegal funding, which the Obama administration granted despite New Hampshire’s grave concerns and without following standard protocols. The administration’s ongoing defense of Planned Parenthood and the secrecy surrounding its funding is completely unacceptable.” (#DefundPP)

In June 2011, New Hampshire chose not to award a Title X subgrant to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, in part because of concerns that the affiliate was improperly using the funds to subsidize its abortion business and was not being transparent about its activities. HHS responded by providing Planned Parenthood a controversial sole source non-competitive replacement grant. When New Hampshire Right to Life sought documents concerning the grant, HHS stonewalled until a federal court order required it to produce some, but not all, requested information about the grant.

HHS has continued to refuse to provide certain grant documents on the grounds that they might affect Planned Parenthood’s “competitive position” if it faces a commercial grant competitor in the future. HHS also refused to produce information about its own debates over how to sell the controversial decision to the public.

As the ADF reply brief explains, the Freedom of Information Act “requires ‘full agency disclosure unless information is exempted under clearly delineated statutory language….’ The documents at issue in this case, all relating to a rushed non-competitive grant by HHS after the state of New Hampshire refused to award funds over concerns that Planned Parenthood was unlawfully using tax payer funds to subsidize abortions, could not have been done ‘in confidence.’ In fact, the state’s decision not to award funds and HHS’s decision to grant the funds were both highly publicized and of interest to many in New Hampshire and elsewhere….”

“Americans are already being forced to fund Planned Parenthood, which has become the subject of numerous state investigations in recent days, with more than $500 million in taxpayer dollars annually,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “At the very least, the government must be transparent about this money. Since Planned Parenthood is already the subject of repeated state and federal audits and whistleblower lawsuits for waste, abuse, and potential fraud of taxpayer dollars, not to mention ongoing federal and state investigations over possible baby parts trafficking, the government should comply with the law and come clean about the funding.”

Last week, New Hampshire’s Executive Council again voted to eliminate state funding for Planned Parenthood.