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Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 57
BY SENATORS MARTINY, APPEL, CORTEZ, CROWE, GUILLORY, JOHNS, LONG,
MILLS, NEVERS, PEACOCK, PERRY, THOMPSON, WALSWORTH,
WARD AND WHITE AND REPRESENTATIVES STUART BISHOP,
BROADWATER, BURFORD, HENRY BURNS, CARMODY,
CHANEY, CONNICK, CROMER, DOVE, FANNIN, GUINN, HARRIS,
HENRY, HILL, HODGES, HOFFMANN, HOWARD, IVEY, GIROD
JACKSON, KLECKLEY, LOPINTO, LORUSSO, MACK, JAY
MORRIS, ORTEGO, PEARSON, PONTI, POPE, PUGH, PYLANT,
RICHARD, SCHRODER, SEABAUGH, SIMON, ST. GERMAIN,
STOKES, TALBOT, THOMPSON, WHITNEY AND WILLMOTT
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the various departments to take certain actions regarding the
commercial construction and operation by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast of a
facility to provide abortions in Louisiana.
WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a private, nonprofit
organization that provides sexual and reproductive health services and is the largest provider
of abortions in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the affiliate Planned Parenthood facilities in Louisiana provide sexual
and reproductive health services but currently do not provide abortions; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, the non-abortion providing Planned Parenthood affiliates in
Louisiana merged with the abortion providing affiliates of Planned Parenthood Houston and
Southeast Texas, Inc., to form the new umbrella organization headquartered in Houston
known as Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, which operates the largest Planned Parenthood
abortion facility in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast has purchased three parcels of land on
Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans and plans to build a four million two hundred thousand
dollar, seven thousand square foot facility where they intend to perform abortions, according
to their own legislative testimony and fundraising materials; and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana has various economic incentive programs for
commercial construction and labor for certain businesses; and SCR NO. 57 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, permits for the construction of the abortion facility to be built with
private funds raised by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast on Claiborne Avenue should include
plans for the sanitary disposal of human remains for the safety and welfare of Louisiana
residents; and
WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast also intends to provide other services
including contraception and sexually transmitted disease testing that are available at public
health units and at nonprofit facilities throughout Louisiana under the same Medicaid pricing
structure used by Planned Parenthood; and
WHEREAS, the two current Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast clinics in New Orleans
and Baton Rouge receive state and federal funding in the amount of "approximately one
million dollars a year in fee-for-service Medicaid reimbursement" for non-abortion
reproductive health services, according to testimony given by a Planned Parenthood Gulf
Coast representative in the House Committee on Health and Welfare on May 4, 2011; and
WHEREAS, federal and Louisiana laws regulate which services are reimbursable
under Medicaid and provide for the practice of employees of public or private social service
agencies with regard to abortion; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 40:1299.34.5 provides that no public funds shall be used in any
way for, to assist in, or to provide facilities for an abortion, except when the abortion is
medically necessary to prevent the death of the mother; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 40:1299.34 provides that no person employed in any public or
private social service agency, by contract or otherwise, which is a recipient of any form of
government assistance shall require or recommend that any woman have an abortion; and
WHEREAS, in the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare on June 8, 2011, the
Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast representative was asked, "Do the two Planned Parenthood
facilities recommend abortion to any of their clients?" The Planned Parenthood
representative responded, "We do. It's part of our comprehensive pregnancy counseling.
We provide options for all available resources including . . . abortion referral if that's
requested"; and
WHEREAS, two lawsuits by former employees are pending against Planned
Parenthood Gulf Coast, the same organization building the New Orleans complex, alleging SCR NO. 57 ENROLLED
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up to five million dollars in Medicaid fraud pursuant to the federal "False Claims Act"; and
WHEREAS, Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee, alleges in her
false claims lawsuit that members of Planned Parenthood's key management team instructed
Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast staff to provide auditors with charts that had been "fixed"
regarding abortion on minor girls to ensure that "required documentation, especially with
regard to parental consent and non-coercion, was included in each client file"; and
WHEREAS, disregard for parental involvement for minors and non-coercion laws
endangers the health and safety of Louisiana's women and young girls and facilitates sex-
trafficking, sexual tourism, and prostitution of minors; and
WHEREAS, there is a responsibility of the state of Louisiana to ensure that
organizations operate in compliance with all laws, and if laws are being violated, take
appropriate actions against such organizations.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals, the Division of Administration,
the legislative auditor, and the office of the Inspector General to review and monitor the
practices of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast to determine whether the organization is in
compliance with all state and federal laws and regulations, including but not limited to
provisions concerning public funding of abortion facilities, R.S. 40:1299.34.5; the
counseling or recommendation of abortion by state contractors, R.S. 40:1299.34; the
mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse pursuant to Louisiana Children's Code Articles
603, 609, and 610 and R.S. 14:80, regarding felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile; parental
consent for minors seeking abortion requirements, R.S. 40:1299.35.5; and the informed
consent and signage requirements of R.S. 40:1299.35.5.1 and 1299.35.6.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
and request that any application for economic incentives of any kind filed by Planned
Parenthood Gulf Coast or any of its abortion-providing affiliates to construct, purchase, or
operate any facility, or to employ any individuals therein, be denied by the Louisiana
Department of Economic Development, the Louisiana Department of Labor, or any other
department, and that any application for any economic incentive filed by Planned
Parenthood Gulf Coast be reported to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer SCR NO. 57 ENROLLED
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Protection and International Affairs and the House Committee on Commerce by the
department receiving such application.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
and request that the City of New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits and the
permitting authority of any other city in which Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast seeks to
construct or operate an outpatient abortion facility require plans for the sanitary disposal of
human remains for the safety and welfare of Louisiana residents.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
commissioner of the Division of Administration, the secretary of the Department of Health
and Hospitals, the secretary of the Department of Economic Development, the secretary of
the Department of Labor, the legislative auditor, the state inspector general, and the city of
New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES