House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., bashed House Republicans Saturday for their efforts to defund and investigate Planned Parenthood in the wake of undercover videos showing high-level executives bartering prices for organs from aborted fetuses.
Using the familiar Democrat talking point that Republicans have launched a “war on women’s health,” Pelosi said the GOP is “fixated on dismantling women’s health.”
“The speaker’s resignation has not yet broken Republicans’ fevered obsession with shutting down government at the expense of women’s health,” she said, citing House Speaker John Boehner’s surprise resignation Friday.
House Republicans are pushing to remove taxpayer funding of the organization, which currently receives half a billion dollars in federal funding. Democrats’ insistence to keep the organization’s funding could lead to a government shutdown.
GOP representatives have said that the Planned Parenthood videos are abhorrent, but Democrats say shutting down Planned Parenthood will harm women’s health. Many leading Democrats who’ve expressed support for the organization, including presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, say they have not watched the videos in question.
The GOP announced Saturday they will go ahead with plans to establish a select subcommittee that will investigate Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics. They also hope to pass additional pro-life legislation.
