Hillary Clinton will deliver a major address Friday at Planned Parenthood in a show of warm camaraderie with the group enthusiastically backing her presidential bid and sharing her goals for expansive abortion rights.
Planned Parenthood spent millions of dollars getting President Obama elected, but the women’s health and abortion provider is even more closely allied with Clinton, giving her its first presidential primary endorsement earlier this year, pouring money into supporting her and dubbing her its favorite presidential candidate.
“No other presidential contender in our nation’s history has demonstrated such a strong commitment to women or such a clear record on behalf of women’s health and rights,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said this week.
Should Clinton become president, it could give Planned Parenthood a speed dial to the White House. Clinton has strongly defended the group over the last year, as it dealt with a public relations crisis surrounding undercover videos revealing its involvement in supplying aborted fetal tissue.
“As your president, I will always have your back,” Clinton said in January as she accepted the group’s endorsement.
Clinton vows to oppose Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, in a list of policy priorities on her campaign website, and praises the group in a two-minute video as well. Her campaign has paid the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for staffing help and Richards has campaigned for Clinton in 20 states. In 2009, the group awarded her its Margaret Sanger Award.
The close relationship irks conservatives, who view Planned Parenthood with deep suspicion for its status as the country’s largest provider of abortions and fear a Clinton presidency would result in even more political clout for the group.
“We see this cycle that Planned Parenthood continues to endorse Hillary, and Hillary continues to endorse Planned Parenthood,” said Arina Grossu, director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council.
Conservatives say they’re also frustrated that Clinton isn’t drilled more on whether she would support any restrictions on abortion, noting that a majority of Americans oppose late-term abortions. While Clinton often spoke in the 1990s of making abortion “safe, legal and rare” — a phrase coined by her husband — she has more recently opposed any efforts by states to restrict the procedure or regulate abortion clinics.
Clinton’s speech Friday will be themed on “what’s at stake for reproductive healthcare and women’s rights in the upcoming presidential election,” according to Planned Parenthood.
Several anti-abortion groups say they’re planning a peaceful protest outside the Washington Hilton, where Clinton is scheduled to speak at noon. It will be led by the Christian Defense Coalition and Operation Rescue, whose leaders view a Clinton presidency as a major win for Planned Parenthood.
“We must stand against the Planned Parenthood/Clinton baby-killing cabal and expose their radical and barbaric abortion agenda to the public,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “God forbid that Hillary Clinton should become president and serve as Planned Parenthood’s puppet in the White House.”
