Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Thursday said he would sign a bill to defund Planned Parenthood as president. The statement follows an onslaught of criticism from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and evangelical organizations about the billionaire’s past support for abortion and his recent claim that Planned Parenthood “does do some wonderful things.”
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Last summer, when the debate over defunding Planned Parenthood dominated public discourse, Trump said he would consider the “good aspects” of the nation’s leading abortion provider before supporting efforts to entirely strip the organization of federal funding.
“I would look at the good aspects of it, and I would also look because I’m sure they do some things properly and good for women,” he told CNN. “I would look at that, and I would look at other aspects also, but we have to take care of women.”
Trump did say “the abortion aspect of Planned Parenthood should absolutely not be funded,” but the formerly pro-choice New Yorker declined to endorse congressional efforts to shut down the federal government unless the organization’s $528 million in federal funding was reversed.
Now, under attack from Christian conservatives and his fellow GOP hopefuls, Trump says he would sign a bill to entirely defund the abortion provider, if he’s elected president.
“As long as they do the abortion, I am not for funding Planned Parenthood,” he told CBN News during an interview in Charleston, S.C.
Trump continued to claim that Planned Parenthood performs services he approves of while simultaneously doubling down on his support for defunding them.
“They do a lot of good things for women but as long as they’re involved with the abortions, as you know they say it’s 3 percent of their work, some people say it’s 10 percent, some people say it’s 8 percent, I hear all different percentages but it doesn’t matter. … As long as they’re involved with abortion, as far as I’m concerned forget it, I wouldn’t fund them regardless,” he said. Host David Brody noted that other groups exists that do “fine work” related to women’s health.
“That’s right,” Trump, who leads the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings, said. “But [Planned Parenthood does] a big job. … There are a lot of women taken care of by Planned Parenthood so we have to remember that but I am for defunding Planned Parenthood as long as they are involved with abortion.”
