WASHINGTON – Republican lawmakers called for cutting off the $550 million in federal funds given to Planned Parenthood after Live Action’s latest investigative videos were released.
According to Live Action, a nonprofit organization that promotes policies against abortion, “investigators posing as pregnant women asked 68 Planned Parenthood facilities for ultrasounds to check the health of their babies, but only three centers would provide them. The remainder either used ultrasounds for abortions or did not perform ultrasounds at all.”
Live Action’s video, “Ultrasounds for Killing, Not Care,” shows some of the responses the investigators received after questioning Planned Parenthood staff.
“Not something we offer. Well, we do have to do an ultrasound with an abortion, but we don’t offer them for – we can’t do anything to make sure that the pregnancy’s fine,” a representative at Planned Parenthood in St. Louis said.
Interim House Budget Chairwoman Diane Black (R-Tenn.), Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), and Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) appeared with Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, at a recent press conference on Capitol Hill after the videos were made public.
“The reality is their focus for pregnant women is abortion. It’s not prenatal care. It’s not serving young mothers, promoting them, supporting them, it’s abortion, which is a cash cow for many of their facilities,” Rose said.
“Abortion is not healthcare. Abortion is not a solution to problems. Abortion kills an innocent human life who has human rights like you and I do, and it also turns a mother against her own flesh and blood and it deeply wounds a mother and her family,” she added.
Rep. Black, who worked as a nurse for 40 years, said she would continue to advocate for legislation that would defund Planned Parenthood in the current session of Congress.
“Planned Parenthood is not about preventative healthcare. This is an abortion enterprise. In one video, we see 92 separate Planned Parenthood clinics turning away women who are searching for prenatal care,” she said.
“The House will once again seek to defund Planned Parenthood through the reconciliation process.”
According to Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, it performed more than 320,000 abortions in FY2015.
“Children are a blessing. Abortion is not healthcare. Taxpayer money may not be allowed to directly fund abortion but taxpayers do fund nearly half of the budget that commits the most abortions in America,” Wagner said. “It’s the largest killer of children in the United States of America.”
Franks said Live Action’s videos refute the claim that defunding Planned Parenthood would hurt women’s healthcare. He argued that the organization is “deceiving” the public about the women’s health services it provides.
“I can think of no organization in the recent history of the world that has deceived the world more than Planned Parenthood,” she said.
Hartzler said nearly 100 Planned Parenthood clinics were asked if they provided prenatal care and only five said they offer such care.
“For every one adoption referral, Planned Parenthood performs 160 abortions,” she said. “Adoption is not an option at Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is not interested in providing healthcare to women. Its exclusive mission and its area of expertise is abortion.”
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