Political Quotes

“A number of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the Republican side of the aisle, have said they don't want abortion to be funded and, therefore, they're going to vote for the Pence amendment. But they believe that people ought to be able to get the clinical and preventive services that a group like Planned Parenthood would otherwise make available to them. Well, look. Planned Parenthood does not pay for anybody's abortion using taxpayers' dollars. That is clearly in the law. It's covered by the Hart amendment. If Planned Parenthood has abortion services, it is completely separate. It is not only separate from family planning services and others for which they get government funding, they have to keep separate records. It's a completely different operation. So the Pence amendment is trying to strike the funds under the health and human services programs for the services that Planned Parenthood as an organization would provide for them. Now it's not just family planning funds. It's all Federal programs, including Medicaid and the community health centers program. This organization serves 15 percent of all women in need of contraceptive services in the U.S., and for millions of women, it is their primary health care provider, the place they go to not only for planning services but basic preventive health services such as cancer screenings. Take that money away from them, they're not going to be able to serve the women who need those services.”