Complaint filed against abstinence, anti-abortion groups

27 Jul 2006 // A watchdog organization based in Washington asked the Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday to investigate two South Dakota nonprofit groups that promote sexual abstinence and oppose abortion.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint alleging that the Alpha Center and the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, both based in Sioux Falls, violated federal tax law by failing to report lobbying activities and by exceeding the limit on lobbying by charitable organizations.

The Alpha Center, an anti-abortion agency that provides counseling and other services to women with unplanned pregnancies, also violated the law by endorsing a candidate for the Sioux Falls School Board, according to the complaint.

The complaint asks the IRS to investigate the two South Dakota organizations, revoke their tax-exempt status and impose fines and other penalties.

Both nonprofit organizations are led by Leslee Unruh of Sioux Falls, a well-known abortion opponent. She has mostly left the day-to-day operations of those organizations to head up a political committee that is seeking passage of the abortion ban that will be put to a statewide vote in November.

An official of the Abstinence Clearinghouse said the allegations by CREW are false.

"They are politically motivated charges that have been brought during this political season merely as a political ploy, which will be handled by the legal advisers of the Abstinence Clearinghouse," the organization's director, Charlee Vorhees, said in a written statement.

Ellie Brito-Larsen, director of the Alpha Center, also said the two groups have nothing to fear from an IRS investigation because they have not violated any laws governing tax-exempt organizations. Alpha Center counsels pregnant women and those who have had abortions, she said.

"The mean spirited and false attack on Alpha Center is motivated by the fact that Alpha Center has stood up to defend the rights of pregnant mothers, rights that radical pro-abortion groups don't value, argue against, and destroy," Brito-Larsen said in a statement.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said the watchdog organization sought an IRS investigation because it appears the two South Dakota groups have violated the law.

"If you look, you'll see our organization doesn't deal with abortion issues. It's not something we focus on," Sloan told The Associated Press.

Once CREW heard about the two South Dakota organizations and conducted its own investigation, it brought the situation to the attention of the IRS, Sloan said.

"We got a tip about this one, but they're not the first organizations we've filed an IRS complaint against," said Sloan, who added that she does not know who called CREW's attention to the two South Dakota organizations.

CREW most often is involved in congressional ethics, Sloan said. CREW has been described as a liberal-leaning organization, but Sloan said it has criticized both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. "We'd admit to being progressive, yes."

The complaint is based on tax forms filed by the Alpha Center and National Abstinence Clearinghouse for 2003 and 2004. Unruh was registered as a lobbyist for those organizations during this year's South Dakota legislative session, but not in 2003 or 2004.

The complaint alleges that the Alpha Center and the National Abstinence Clearinghouse filed federal tax forms that claimed they engaged in no lobbying activities, but newspaper reports showed Unruh was lobbying the state Legislature to ban abortion and support abstinence education programs.

In addition, the two groups appeared to have exceeded lobbying limits for charitable organizations that are set up under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the complaint says. Federal law says "no substantial part" of a charitable organization's activities can be devoted to lobbying or trying to influence legislation, CREW said. Different methods exist for determining if a charity has exceeded the limit for lobbying activity, according to the complaint.

The complaint also says Alpha Center violated federal tax law by endorsing a candidate for the Sioux Falls School Board election in 2005. Even though an Alpha Center newsletter did not expressly advocate the candidacy of John Stratman, who was also a board member of both Alpha Center and the Abstinence Clearinghouse, the organization clearly supported his candidacy in violation of the law, the complaint said.

Sloan said the complaint was based on the tax forms filed by the two organizations and news accounts that described Unruh's activities in recent years.

"We're not going to go to the IRS if we don't think we have a really solid case," Sloan said.

In 2004, Unruh supported a measure passed by the Legislature that would have banned nearly all abortions in South Dakota. The bill died when lawmakers refused to make changes requested by Gov. Mike Rounds.

Unruh testified in favor of the 2004 abortion measure on behalf of herself, not as a registered lobbyist for the Alpha Center or National Abstinence Clearinghouse.

The complaint filed by CREW said newspaper accounts "provide compelling evidence that Ms. Unruh was lobbying in her role as the president of NAC and Alpha Center, rather than in her personal capacity. Because she held actual and apparent authority as president of the organizations, and was paid a significant salary by both, it is reasonable to conclude that she was being compensated by the organizations for the lobbying activity."