Texas Officials Demand Documents From Planned Parenthood Clinics: Reports

Authorities in Texas turned up unannounced at several Planned Parenthood locations on Thursday in search of a variety of documents, officials from the organization say.

The Texas Tribune reports Texas Health and Human Services Commission investigators went to locations in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Brownsville with requests for Medicaid records, billing information and personal data. The state did not confirm the requests or visits to news outlets.

The visit comes just days after the state announced plans to cut off Medicaid funding to the women’s healthcare provider because of videos that were secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group during which officials discuss the procurement of fetal tissue for donations.

Republicans in Texas and across the U.S. have lambasted the recordings and the organization, which they’ve accused of profiting off of the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing.

Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region Chief Executive Officer Ken Lambrecht reportedly called the requests “politically motivated” at a news conference in Austin on Thursday. “We believe this is a fishing expedition,” Lambrecht said, according to Reuters.

The organization has 24 hours to turn over the requested documents, according to Reuters.

[Texas Tribune]