Washington D.C., Aug 12, 2014 / 02:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A report investigating audits of Planned Parenthood claims to show that the national abortion provider’s practices may have led to the loss of more than $100 million of taxpayer money. Publicly-available audits and testimonies from former employees “strongly suggest that Planned Parenthood affiliates systematically take advantage of 'overbilling' opportunities to maximize revenues,” Alliance Defending Freedom said in their 2014 report “Profit, No Matter What.” The report, which is Alliance Defending Freedom's third annual report on the abortion-performing corporation, examined 44 external audits of Planned Parenthood as well as 51 federal audits of state family planning programs. Together, these audits suggested that Planned Parenthood practices “resulted in losses to the American taxpayer of more than $115 million” from healthcare funding programs. Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide, the report charges, have engaged in “waste, abuse, and potential fraud” by billing federal healthcare programs separately for drugs and procedures provided as part of an abortion procedure, providing prescription drugs without a physician’s approval, and billing the government programs for drugs that were not actually provided or patients that have not been seen at the clinic, among other dishonest billing practices. “Nearly every known audit of Planned Parenthood affiliates has found overbilling,” the report said. The audits found that Planned Parenthood received $8 million overpayments from Title XIX- Medicaid programs, and have “have specifically identified Planned Parenthood affiliates as the source of at least $12.6 million in waste, abuse, and potentially fraudulent overbilling of taxpayers.” In addition, state audits found that the organization overcharged at least $107 million for state family planning programs. These federal and state programs, the report said, “are understaffed and rely on the integrity of the provider for program compliance.” The “weight of evidence,” the report continued, “indicates that the waste by Planned Parenthood may be widespread.” The findings, Alliance Defending Freedom stated, “suggest that such policies may be the result of, at a minimum, a policy of benign neglect over billing practices organization-wide by Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s headquarters in New York City.” Annually, Planned Parenthood receives millions of dollars from the federal government, acquiring more than $500 million – nearly half of its operating budget – in 2013 from government programs. Between 2004 and 2013, Planned Parenthood received a total of more than $4 billion from the government in taxpayer money. In recent years, this heavy funding of the abortion giant has led to federal efforts to reconsider the organization’s federal funding. In January 2013, the “Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act” was introduced in Congress, which would allot tax funds for women’s health care to providers who do not perform abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. And in August 2013, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood’s use of taxpayer funds at the request of Congressional lawmakers. In their study, Alliance Defending Freedom also pointed to previous reports which also investigated potential fraud, malpractice, and other violations of federal regulations. “Planned Parenthood affiliates have also been fined or settled in cases involving wrongful death/medical malpractice, failure to report child sexual abuse and rape, and regulatory violations,” the report stated. Read more

Denver, Colo., Aug 11, 2014 / 05:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As persecution of religious minorities intensifies in Iraq, in the U.S. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders have joined together to ask the Obama administration to work “urgently” to end religious persecution in the Middle East. “We see today that there is a great universal danger coming to conquer all of the world, including our democratic civilization, in the name of a very strict, falsely represented and false religious dogma that has nothing to with mainstream Islam,” Father Andre Y-Sebastian Mahanna, director of ecumenical and interfaith relations for the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, said at an Aug. 11 press conference in Denver. “We still believe that there is hope to save a civilization of diversity and freedom for the sake of peace both in the East and the West,” said Fr. Mahanna, who helped organize the initiative. The Peace Love and Coexistence (PLACE) Initiative aims to bring together Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders against religious intolerance and violence against any ethnic or religious group. The initiative comes as the Islamic State, a Sunni Islamist caliphate, has targeted religious minorities – Christians, Shia Muslims, and Yazidis – for violence, theft, and persecution in the areas under the group’s control. The initiative’s leaders signed a joint statement asking president Obama “to work urgently through diplomatic channels and ethical intervention to stop the murder and persecution of Christians in the Middle East, their violent displacement from their native homelands, and the destruction of their homes, properties, churches and places of worship.” The statement also asks Obama to oppose the persecution of Jews and Muslims “with equal urgency.”   The statement urges religious leaders to “lead by example” by advocating for the safety and rights of all Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities in the Middle East. Fr. Mahanna announced the initiative at the Archdiocese of Denver's St. John Paul II Center. He was joined by Archbishop Samuel Aquila; University of Denver international studies professor Shaul Gabbay; and Sheik Ahmed Nabhan of the Masjid Al Salaam Aurora Islamic Center. Archbishop Aquila said the PLACE statement is “a vital initiative” given the rise of the Islamic State. “This is a case where we have an aggressor who is determined to impose its rule on innocent, defenseless human beings, through killing and brutal oppression.” “The Islamic State will not engage in dialogue. Its only language seems to be murder, forced conversion and gunfire,” he added. “For these reasons it is necessary for the international community to protect the defenseless.” The archbishop said he was encouraged by the administration’s humanitarian and military efforts to protect those threatened by the Islamic State. He added the militants were also abusing religion. “Violence can never be carried out in the name of religion,” he said, citing Pope Francis’ appeals for peace. Nabhan, an imam for 35 years who has lived in the Denver area since 1993, likewise denounced the Islamic State. “On behalf of the Muslim community in Denver, Colorado, I would like to raise my voice against ISIS and would like all of you together, Muslim, Christian, and Jews, to (cut) off the way of evil, everywhere,” he said.   “This is our responsibility to our Lord,” he said, urging peace, mercy, and affection. Gabbay said that Jewish communities are “deeply, deeply concerned for the tragic persecution of Christians.” “We believe that saving one life is equivalent to saving a whole world. We pray for peace, love, human dignity and safety for all minorities. We are united with our brothers from all different religions.” He said he is “extremely honored” to be a part of the PLACE initiative, calling it “a light in the darkness.” He prayed for strength and wisdom to combat the “human tragedies” facing religious minorities, particularly in such countries as Iraq and Syria. Fr. George Shawareb, pastor of St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church in the Denver suburb of Arvada, also voiced support for the initiative. A relative of one of his Iraqi parishioners had urged action to “make sure someone hears our voice.” “People are dying. Countries are being destroyed. We need your help,” the priest said. The statement calls on Muslim leaders in the U.S. to join the call for an end to the killing of innocents. “To advance this cause, it is crucial that groups of authentic Muslims, Christians and Jews in the United States lead by example and advocate for the safety and the right to exist for all Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities in the Middle East.” The statement condemns and denounces “the preaching of hate against Christians, Jewish and Muslim people, who all have equal rights to live together safely in their homelands and nations in the Middle East.” The statement says that basic human rights come from God. It endorses the right to “peaceful co-existence based upon mutual respect for our shared human dignity.” The Archdiocese of Denver has organized an interreligious prayer gathering for Middle East peace at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Aug. 11. The prayer gathering was to draw representatives Catholic and Orthodox Churches from the Middle East; Protestant and Catholic representatives from Western Christianity; and Jews and Muslims. The prayer service is set to include readings from the Pentateuch, the New Testament, and the Koran, as well as hymns and prayers for peace. Scheduled prayers included Arabic-language prayers as well as the Our Father chanted in Hebrew, Syro-Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and English. Read more

Denver, Colo., Aug 11, 2014 / 02:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Faith-based schools should not be excluded from Colorado's educational choice programs, according to a brief filed by attorneys in a case which is due to be heard by the state supreme court. “School districts have a responsibility to provide the best educational choices for parents and their children without discriminating against religious options,” commented Gregory Baylor, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, in an Aug. 5 statement. Baylor affirmed that religious schools in Colorado “provide an excellent education that meets all state standards. They should continue to be welcomed into programs like this one so that students, the community, and the government will all benefit.”   Taxpayers for Public Educations v. Douglas County was filed by those who maintain that the acceptance of religious schools in the county's Choice Scholarship Program breaches the state constitution, violating provisions governing the church-state relationship. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled against the lawsuit, supporting Douglas County’s decision that religious options in education do not oppose the state constitution. However, opponents filed for an appeal against this decision which will be reviewed by the Colorado Supreme Court. The attorneys of Alliance Defending Freedom filed a brief with the Colorado Supreme Court in defense of the appellate court’s decision, stating that the “Court of Appeals affirmed that the Choice Scholarship Program respects the first amendment and the private religious choices of Colorado families.” “The Colorado Supreme Court has every reason to reach the same conclusion.”   On behalf of the Association of Christian Schools International, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colorado Christian University, and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Alliance Defending Freedom will uphold the case in Colorado Supreme Court, protecting the allowance of private faith-based schools in participation with the state’s educational choice programs. Alliance Defending Freedom explained in the brief to the Colorado Supreme Court that “the First Amendment nurtures this country’s distinctive heritage of religious pluralism by preventing the government from either promoting or inhibiting religious viewpoints in the marketplace of ideas.” “To ensure the continued validity of this marketplace, to foster religious pluralism, and to protect the religious choices of citizens, the government may not exclude from a religiously-neutral program an otherwise qualifying institution solely because the institution’s ideology is grounded in religious conviction,” the brief concluded, asserting that faith-based education is constitutionally supported.   Read more