NEW Hampshire Right to Life is suing the Obama administration for access to records about a decision to fund Planned Parenthood in violation of state rules, a move that comes amid efforts by some state officials to get rid of virtually all federal funding to The Granite State.
The organization filed suit Thursday after complaining that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was ignoring its Freedom of Information Act request for documentation explaining why it awarded a $1 million grant to help fund family planning clinics in six cities despite a state decision to reject the money and allegedly absent a competitive process for health clinics to vie for the grant.
The people of New Hampshire "have the right to know why the Obama administration gave Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest baby killer, a million taxpayer dollars while cutting funding for state hospitals and community clinics," New Hampshire Right to Life President Kurt Wuelper said in a statement to news outlets.
Wuelper, whose group also wants HHS to release any similar documents regarding Planned Parenthood grants in other states, said the administration has flooded New Hampshire "with unwanted abortion money and has violated the public trust by covering up communications with its abortion industry cronies."
The grant was distributed in September, three months after the state's five-member Executive Council voted three-to-two to reject $1.8 million in federal money for health care clinics that provide abortions.
In October, the Right to Life group asked HHS to explain how it decided to award money to Planned Parenthood without a competitive bidding system. The government responded that it could not provide a response within 30 days, as the law requires, and didn't say how long it would take.
Supporters of the Obama administration say the group has no chance of succeeding.
"It's federal money," said Colin Van Ostern, a former campaign aide to Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who announced the federal award in September.
Van Ostern, currently a candidate to defeat freshman Dan St. Hilaire, the swing vote on the Executive Council rejecting the federal money, told FOXNews.com the US government can disperse money to whomever it wants even when state officials reject it.
"It is a shame the Executive Council surrendered local control by refusing to direct this federal funding to local providers, but at the end of the day it's far better for the federal government to help directly than for thousands more New Hampshire women to lose their access to birth control and cancer screenings in 2012 like they did in 2011."
New Hampshire's Executive Council is unique from other states. The panel, elected by voters, is responsible for approving all state contracts over $10,000.
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