Former U.S. Attorney and Sitting Congressman Meehan, Apparently Ignorant of Federal Law, is Shouted Down by Well Informed Constituents
In the newly released video, you can see former U.S. attorney Pat Meehan furthering the right-wing conspiracy that Planned Parenthood performs abortions with federal tax dollars. While this is patently false and has been disproven by reputable sources like Media Matters, Meehan joins a long list of freshman GOP who have spread this falsehood. Fortunately, his constituents clearly understand this, shouting him down among a cacophony of objections.
As can be seen in this video, Pat Meehan clearly (mis)states that Planned Parenthood uses federal funding for abortions. One would think that a former United States Attorney should understand federal law. Like, for instance, the Hyde Amendment, originally attached to a federal appropriations bill in 1976, and continued in some form since. The Amendment forbids the use of federal tax dollars for abortions except in very rare and extreme cases.
Recently Meehan voted to defund Planned Parenthood by voting for H. Con Res. 36. His justification for this is his statement that “The issue is, in addition, they [Planned Parenthood] provide abortions and they are asking for taxpayer dollars for that.”
There are two feasible, although both highly unfortunate, explanations for Meehan’s statement. 1) Pat Meehan, former District Attorney and United States Attorney does not understand or care to research the Hyde Amendment or 2) Pat Meehan, Congressman, understands the Hyde Amendment but simply chooses to lie about it.
His response to questions about the issue doesn’t make a strong case for either possibility as he doesn’t answer the question when asked point-blank about the Hyde Amendment in this video.
Congressman Tim Holden of PA-17 who is pro-life, like Meehan, voted “No” on the same bill. Holden understands that cutting off funding for preventative health-care methods like cancer screenings and birth control for the poorest among us is a surefire way to increase costs in the long-term. This vote was not about abortion; it was about saving money by funding preventative medicine.
Meehan is being ignorant at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. When people voted for Meehan, they expected a former US Attorney, what they got however, is someone who doesn’t hesitate to misinform his own constituents. At least this time, he got the message back: “We don’t believe you.”
Cross-Posted from The Meehan Report