Texas serves subpoenas at Planned Parenthood clinics

AUSTIN, Texas — Health investigators have visited and served subpoenas at Planned Parenthood clinics across Texas, as the state moves to halt Medicaid funding to the organization.

Planned Parenthood said Thursday that investigators sought detailed patient health and billing records, as well as staff payroll and personnel files dating back to 2010.

They asked for such files at clinics in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, and a health center that does not provide abortions in Brownsville, on the Mexico border.

A spokesman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission declined comment.

The move comes three days after Texas announced it had begun removing Planned Parenthood from the joint state-federal Medicaid program.

State health officials have pointed to undercover videos released by an anti-abortion group to allege that Planned Parenthood misspent Medicaid funding.

Four people wearing suits from the State Office of Inspector General came out of Planned Parenthood's Dallas headquarters at around noon on Thursday, but they said they could not tell FOX 4 what information they were after while inside Planned Parenthood for hours.

Planned Parenthood also chose not to elaborate.

“They are asking for a range of information,” said policy director Kelly Hart.

Hart did say investigators asked for the home addresses of every staff member.

Planned Parenthood contends that the undercover videos were deceptively edited, and that no laws were violated.

“The video adds fuel to the fire, allows lawmakers to buffer their arguments, but any misuse of Medicaid money remains to be seen,” said attorney Shayan Elhai.

Elhai, who is not associated with the case, believes investigators are hoping to get their proof in Thursday’s document request.

“It's odd that they would convict them first, and then look at the documents,” said Elhai. “They always had the right to look at the documents. It takes public money, so the government can look into it. They could have looked into it and then decided if defunding was proper or not, but they put the cart before the horse.”

Planned Parenthood says the investigation is politically motivated by a governor who wants to make abortion illegal.

For years, Texas has already cut funding to Planned Parenthood, making them a provider of last resort, and now, the last piece of funding is set to be eliminated in less than 30 days.

“The people who are going to potentially lose are the 13,000 who come to Planned Parenthood for preventative services,” said Hart.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.