Planned Parenthood Hearing: President Cecil Richards Faces Off With House Republicans
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards endured four hours of intense questioning by congressional Republicans on a mission to defund the women's health group.
Planned Parenthood has been under fire since July when a conservative anti-abortion group released videos which allegedly show medical workers affiliated with the pro-choice nonprofit discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue. Following the release of undercover sting videos, 31 conservative Republicans vowed to vote against any spending bill that includes government funding towards the women's health organization. Although the organiztion has denied any wrongdoing, dozens of conservatives pledged to stop federal funding for Planned Parenthood by any means necessary, despite the fact that no federal dollars can legally be allocated toward abortions.
In testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday, Richards faced off against conservative lawmakers, disputing what she described as their "outrageous accusations" that her organization profits from the sale of fetal tissue, reports The New York Times. She also called the charges are "offensive and categorically untrue."
"The latest smear campaign is based on efforts by our opponents to entrap our doctors and clinicians into breaking the law -- and once again our opponents failed," she said.
Tuesday's hearing quickly became contentious as Republican lawmakers accused the group of being a more political advocacy organization that wastes federal money rather than a health care group that uses taxpayer dollars in a meaningful way.
"Take the money from the guys doing the bad things, and give it to the ones who aren't," said Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Republicans also accused Planned Parenthood workers of spending $40 million on "lavish" priorities, flying first class and dedicating their resources towards fundraising instead of women's health care, reports CNN.
"The question before us is: Does this organization -- does Planned Parenthood really need a federal subsidy?" said House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. "Does it need federal dollars? Every time we spend a federal dollar, what we're doing is pulling money out of somebody's pocket and we're giving it to somebody else. What I don't like, what I don't want to tolerate, what I don't want to become numb to is wasting those taxpayer dollars."
However, Democratic supporters of Planned Parenthood fired back, accusing Republicanss of being misogynistic and more interested in gaining political leverage among pro-life voters.
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