Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said Monday that Congress should shut down the government if necessary to defund Planned Parenthood.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO agreed with a group of GOP senators, including fellow 2016 candidate Ted Cruz, that the abortion provider should lose its taxpayer funding.
“If it comes down to closing the government down or funding Planned Parenthood, what should the Republicans in the Congress do?” Hewitt asked the presidential hopeful.
“They should close the government down,” Fiorina said flatly. “The point is this, however, we have a long way to go. And between now and then, beginning with this vote today, every single Republican out there, as well as I hope every media outlet, needs to ask the question that I have been asking for weeks: how does any Democrat justify the continued taxpayer funding of this organization?”
“And if you really think it’s necessary, then why don’t you support taxpayer funding for pregnancy centers right next door to every to every Planned Parenthood facility across this nation so that women really understand what their choices and their options are,” Fiorina said.
“We have to hammer the Democrats on this because, honestly, their position, which most Americans do not understand — that’s the shame of it,” Fiorina continued. “Most Americans don’t understand that the Democrats’ position is it’s not a life until it leaves the hospital. Most Americans don’t agree with that position. We have to educate the American people about how extreme the Democrats are.”
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul didn’t go as far on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Paul told host Jake Tapper that while he supports legislation to defund the Planned Parenthood, he argued that the Congress shouldn’t “start out” by threatening a shutdown.
With the first GOP debate set to take place Thursday, Fiorina is currently on the outside looking in. According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, Fiorina sits in 14th place and will likely take the stage an earlier candidate forum taking place at 5 p.m. Eastern, alongside Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The main event featuring the top ten candidates in recent polling will start at 9 p.m. Eastern.
