Bernie Sanders Rips Senate Republicans For Trying To Defund Planned Parenthood

Senator Bernie Sanders tore into Senate Republicans for harming the health of 2.7 million women with a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood.

In a statement, Sanders said:

The attempt by Senate Republicans to cut off support for Planned Parenthood is an attack on women’s health. Stripping funding for Planned Parenthood would punish the 2.7 million Americans, especially low-income women, who rely on its clinics for affordable, quality health care services including cancer prevention, STI and HIV testing and general primary health care services.

The current attempt to discredit Planned Parenthood is part of a long-term smear campaign by people who want to deny women in this country the right to control their own bodies.

Let’s be clear: Federal funding for Planned Parenthood does not pay for abortions. The vast majority of government funding that Planned Parenthood receives is through Medicaid reimbursements. Cutting that funding will be devastating to the health needs of millions of women who desperately need the quality services Planned Parenthood provides.

The videos that are the basis for the latest attack on the rights of women were heavily and obviously edited, but none of that matters to Senate Republicans who are always looking for a way to pander to an extreme segment of their extremist supporters.

The reality that Planned Parenthood provides vital health services to millions of women. What Senate Republicans are attempting to do with this legislation would literally kill women by denying them access to basic care. Abortions represent only 3% of all services provided by Planned Parenthood, and no federal money is used to pay for abortion services.

Mitch McConnell has scheduled a vote on the legislation to defund Planned Parenthood for next week, but the American people need to speak out against this shameful, deeply partisan, and deceptive attack on women before the Republicans take their show vote on a piece of legislation that will never become law while President Obama is in office.