Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz urging him to investigate Planned Parenthood for “its role in pushing transgender madness onto minor children.”
Hawley sent the letter on Friday as Congress faces the July 4 expiration of a provision defunding Planned Parenthood that Republican lawmakers passed in the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Hawley told Oz that while he is trying to get another measure passed extending the defunding measure, CMS could use its power to ensure taxpayer dollars are not going to an organization that facilitates sex changes for minors.
“I appreciate your focus on combatting fraud in our nation’s healthcare programs and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are being used for their lawful, intended purposes. As you continue work to uncover fraud in the Medicaid and Medicare programs, I urge you to direct your investigative efforts toward Planned Parenthood and its role in pushing transgender madness onto minor children,” Hawley wrote.
“As you well know, the Medicaid and Medicare programs were designed to help needy and older Americans afford basic healthcare. But Planned Parenthood has benefitted immensely from these programs: the Government Accountability Office found that Planned Parenthood and its affiliates received more than $1.5 billion in Medicaid and Medicare payments in a 3-year period. In other words, billions of taxpayer dollars have been taken from those in poverty and the elderly and given to Planned Parenthood,” he continued.
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Hawley also pointed to reports indicating that “these funds apparently have been used to prop up Planned Parenthood’s provision of transgender procedures to children.”
“The organization openly advertises that it provides sex-change drugs and refers for transgender surgeries. According to one recent report, Planned Parenthood’s provision of this so-called “gender-affirming care” has exploded — with a 40 percent year-over-year increase,” the lawmaker wrote. “Public reporting clearly shows that these ‘services’ are provided to minors. Undercover investigations have revealed that numerous Planned Parenthood facilities would prescribe sex change drugs to a minor at the first appointment, without any medical documentation whatsoever.”
“The organization has even exploited legal loopholes to provide these dangerous and irreversible gender-transition drugs to minors without their parents’ consent. This is unconscionable,” he wrote. “I am concerned that critical healthcare dollars are flowing to an organization that promotes transgender treatments on minors.”
Hawley went on to say that Congress allowing Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood to resume would be a “grave error.”
“In the absence of congressional action, you have an opportunity to expand your fraud investigation by probing Planned Parenthood’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations,” Hawley wrote to Oz. “The organization’s transgender activities appear at the least to subvert Congress’s intent to direct Medicaid and Medicare funds to basic healthcare needs. They may also violate regulations governing how these dollars may be spent and fail to comply with Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rules. I therefore urge you to act to ensure Planned Parenthood cannot defraud our nation’s healthcare programs.”
“Thank you for your attention to this important matter,” he concluded.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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