A report issued Thursday by Americans United for Life (AUL), a 40-year-old pro-life organization, is calling on Congress to investigate Planned Parenthood, saying it has uncovered evidence of systemic financial irregularities with the abortion provider.

Planned Parenthood has received more than $363 million in federal and state taxpayer funding.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chairman of Energy and Commerce’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, immediately responded to the group’s call for an investigation.

“Taxpayers deserve accountability, and the report prepared by Americans United for Life demonstrates egregious abuses of taxpayer funds by Planned Parenthood,” said Stearns in a statement sent by his press office.

“The report outlines Planned Parenthood’s record of violating state sexual assault child abuse reporting laws, and of encouraging young girls to lie about their ages to circumvent state reporting laws. I believe my Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee should review the findings of this report and possibly hold a hearing on why taxpayers are funding Planned Parenthood with its record of abuse and violations of state laws.”

AUL President Charmaine Yoest told The Christian Post she was “very encouraged” by Rep. Stearns remarks.

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“The information uncovered in our report is troubling and appalling,” said Yoest.

“The issue is one of public accountability of funds that needs to be addressed. I find it interesting that since 1998, Planned Parenthood’s funding has doubled and the number of abortions performed by them has kept pace. One of the most telling issues is what these numbers in our report reveal,” she said. “Planned Parenthood should certainly be called on to offer an appropriate explanation to our findings.”

An AUL legal team looked through 20 years of Planned Parenthood financial records and the report documents the known and alleged abuses by Planned Parenthood, including the misuse of federal family planning funds, failure to report child sexual abuse, assisting those involved in prostitution and sex trafficking, and the misuse of the abortion drug RU-486.

Several states, including Kansas, Tennessee, New Jersey, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Texas and Ohio have stopped or cut funding to Planned Parenthood this year.

“I’ve never seen Planned Parenthood under so much pressure,”noted Yoest.

The last decade has seen Planned Parenthood intensify their lobbying efforts in Congress too. Since the 2000 election cycle, they and other abortion groups have spent more than $205 million on campaign contributions or independent expenditures to candidates seeking federal office.

Planned Parenthood has already issued a statement in response to the report’s findings.

“We are proud of the trust millions of women place in us every year to provide high quality health care. We approach our work with a deep sense of responsibility to the patients we serve, and recognize that the importance of our work is growing because in many communities we are often the only source of affordable quality health care for women. This so-called report is a politically driven attack by an organization opposed to birth control and expanded access to birth control. It uses discredited, recycled and misleading claims to attack Planned Parenthood and should be viewed with a skeptical eye,” said the abortion provider.

Planned Parenthood staffers were recently recorded in Indiana directing women with Medicaid to other clinics, saying they no longer would accept new Medicaid patients.