The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has claimed to have no relationship with Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM), but Media Trackers Colorado has discovered over 500 pages of receipts from the CDPHE to PPRM, totaling $3,118,486.14 since 2008.

Hundreds of pages of documentation record dealings between the Planned Parenthood affiliate and CDPHE since fiscal year 2008. Individual reimbursements from the department range from $50 – $500 for various gynecologist procedures and exams.

In 2012 the Department of Health and Environment reimbursed PPRM $665,393, and as of March 18, 2013 the Department has already paid out $206,959 in reimbursements to PPRM.

Although CDPHE has paid PPRM over $3 million for various services, the department has admitted it does not regulate or oversee health standards for Planned Parenthood clinics in the state. CDPHE provides necessary licensing and standard regulation to all other health and out-patient surgical clinics in Colorado, but Planned Parenthood is an exception.

Despite this lack of regulatory oversight, CDPHE has disbursed roughly $500,000 a year to PPRM for screenings and other medical procedures for select Medicaid patients, in addition to other reimbursements.

Most of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s receipts linked to PPRM show federal grant money being funneled into the state to cover patients for services provided at PPRM.

In the wake of a lawsuit filed against PPRM by Ayanna Byer, a resident of Colorado Springs who alleges she suffered through a botched abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility, it seems fair to question why CDPHE has paid state and federal tax dollars to a medical center that is not required to abide by Colorado’s health and medical board standards.

Byer’s malpractice lawsuit against PPRM has launched a series of investigations into the health standards of PPRM as well as the financial support offered by the state of Colorado.

CDPHE’s receipts reveal a yearly contract with PPRM for screenings since fiscal year 2008. While the state agency’s Warrant Log Report states the money since 2008 comes from federal grants, it does not address why a state department has records connecting them to PPRM in the first place.

The Colorado Constitution specifically forbids public funding of abortion, but the Transparency Online Project confirms that four state departments have contributed to PPRM since 2009.  It has recently been brought to Colorado taxpayers’ attention that despite a lack of state health standards for Planned Parenthood clinics in the state, the state has provided over $10 million in public funding to the national abortion provider.

This story was originally featured at Media Trackers Colorado.