Planned Parenthood to Spend $20M in 2016 Election to Fight Republicans [Video]
Planned Parenthood has launched a new multimillion dollar political initiative to fight against anti-abortion extremists in the Republican Party trying to end its federal funding.
The women's health organization announced Tuesday it plans to spend at least $20 million in the 2016 election to keep Republicans who want to defund the group from being elected.
"Extremists have made the 2016 election about attacking reproductive rights," Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said in a video announcing the effort. "Politicians who side with these extremists, you are not my candidate."
Planned Parenthood has been under fire since July when an anti-abortion group released videos that allegedly show medical workers affiliated with the pro-choice nonprofit discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue. The women's health organization has denied any wrongdoing and pointed out the videos are heavily edited.
However, following the release of undercover sting videos, dozens of conservative Republicans pledged to stop federal funding for Planned Parenthood by any means necessary, despite the fact no federal dollars are allocated to abortions. Richards was also subjected to extensive questioning about her organization and the undercover videos during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing back in September.
Now, Richards said the health center will fight back by spending millions of dollars to influence voters to elect candidates that support Planned Parenthood in the presidential election and in key Senate races in New Hampshire, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, reports CNN.
"Enough is enough," Richards said in the video. "With our supporters, we're launching 'I Vote Planned Parenthood Action.' We'll organize and mobilize to elect lawmakers who are in our corner."
The $20 million will be spent on organizing, advertising and a new website detailing what stance each presidential candidate has taken on abortion, birth control and funding Planned Parenthood. In addition, the group released a new video in which Richards warns opponents they will "organize and mobilize to elect lawmakers who are in our corners."
"Today we have a clear message for every politician who has threatened access to reproductive health care, who has said having to drive hundreds of miles to safely access a legal abortion wasn't a 'burden,' and who has made offhand comments about eliminating basic health care for millions across the country: You're about to be in for a very rude awakening," said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, according to The Huffington Post.
"You cannot embrace policies that dismiss the lives of women, of the LGBTQ community, of people of color, of low-income families, of young people, and expect to be elected by the American people."
Watch the group's new video below.
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