Florida’s ACHA says Planned Parenthood is lying, ‘investigation is ongoing’
In Florida, Planned Parenthood announced a victory for their clinics offering abortions, but a letter from Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) General Counsel Stuart Williams says the organization is lying about whether it does illegal second-term abortions, and said the state is continuing its investigation.
“Planned Parenthood…continues to misrepresent to the media that AHCA has changed its position, and Planned Parenthood clinics in Florida may now provide unauthorized second trimester abortions,” says the letter. “This is false.”
The Florida investigation ordered by Gov. Rick Scott unearthed three clinics performing abortions in the second trimester and another clinic “not keeping proper logs relating to fetal remains.”
According to Planned Parenthood’s attorneys, however, their clinics lawfully conduct abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy, or 14 weeks after the last period, because of a 2006 agreement with the state. They have accused the state of violating its own law — Florida Administrative Code Rule 59A-9.019.
Planned Parenthood had been forced to stop performing abortions at those facilities and sought an injunction against the state. It dropped the suit on Monday and on Wednesday appeared to claim victory.
“While we will of course cooperate with legitimate investigations, the public does not want elected officials spending time and money looking into bogus claims that are just part of a political agenda,” said Barbara Zdravecky, head of Planned Parenthood’s southwest and central Florida group.
“Planned Parenthood self-reported that they were performing unauthorized abortions during the second trimester at three of their Florida clinics,” the ACHA letter says. “Again, under Rule 59A-9.019, based on the information self-reported by Planned Parenthood abortions were illegally performed during the second trimester at the three clinics at issue, and our investigation will continue.”
The practices of Planned Parenthood have been called into question after a series of undercover videos were released by the Center for Medical Progress.
Check out the pdf of the letter HERE