Hillary Clinton voiced strong support for Planned Parenthood after Wednesday's Republican debate, called out the candidates' lies about the organization, and
warned congressional Republicans about to shut down government over Planned Parenthood defunding.
"I would hope that the Republicans—and particularly the Republicans in the House, led by Speaker (John) Boehner—would not put our country and our economy in peril pursuing some kind of emotionally, politically charged, partisan attack on Planned Parenthood to shut our government down," Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room." "I think that would be a very, very unfortunate decision." […]
In a written statement to reporters [following the debate], Clinton said the Republican debate continued the party's "race to the bottom on women's health and women's rights" because "every single candidate on stage has pledged to defund Planned Parenthood if they become president."
She added, "Repeating false statements doesn't make them true, no matter how many times you do it."
But Clinton took it a step further Thursday, calling on Boehner to not shut down the government over Planned Parenthood. […]
"Speaker Boehner and his colleagues have a job to do, and they should do it," Clinton said. "Here's my message to them: don't attack women's health care. And don't shut down the government."
She's got that right. It is an attack on women's health care and an attack on women. The Congressional Budget Office scoring
proves it: if Congress defunds Planned Parenthood, about 15 percent of its patients lose access to care. That's as many as
630,000 women. And we're not talking about just losing access to a quick and easy abortion as Republicans would have you believe. We're talking about health care—physical exams, cancer screenings, blood pressure checks, prenatal care!, and yes, reproductive health care. Because our lady parts make up a pretty important part of our bodies, and can't be ignored when it comes to our health.