Rep. Bob Goodlatte, investigating Planned Parenthood by not having Planned Parenthood testify
The
22 Republican men, and one woman, of the House Judiciary Committee begin what promises to be a long-term attack on Planned Parenthood with
the first hearing Wednesday. Ostensibly about the debunked "sting" videos by the Center for Medical Progress, a group of anti-abortion extremists, and Planned Parenthood's participation in fetal tissue donations, the hearing will apparently not be so much about fetal tissue as how abortion is icky.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A prominent abortion foe is accusing Planned Parenthood of violating federal laws barring for-profit sales of fetal tissue, while a defender of the group says it's done nothing illegal as Congress begins long-awaited hearings that are already weaving accusations, emotion and politics. […]
Also testifying were two women who say they survived failed abortions as newborns. Their appearance underscores how the GOP is eager to use questions about fetal tissue research to personalize the broader political dispute over abortion, an issue that could fan both sides' activists during the 2016 presidential and congressional campaigns. […]
In noteworthy omissions at Wednesday's hearing, chaired by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., Planned Parenthood and the Center for Medical Progress were not testifying.
Meanwhile,
28 Republican men in the House are pushing hard for a shutdown of the government over Planned Parenthood funding. They've signed onto a letter circulated by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to leadership stating that they "cannot and will not support any funding resolution—an appropriations bill, an omnibus package, a continuing resolution, or otherwise—that contains any funding for Planned Parenthood, including mandatory funding streams." That's despite the fact that none of the $500 million Planned Parenthood receives pays for abortions, because there's already a federal ban on that. That money provides subsidized birth control, annual physical exams, cancer screenings, general health care for primarily women.
These men are backed up in their effort to take women's healthcare services away by a powerful conservative group, headed by Chairman Brent Bozell, which is propping up Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) who is of course propping up his presidential campaign. The group, ForAmerica, is asking all Republican presidential candidates to pledge they will veto any future Planned Parenthood funding.
"We need a firm commitment from you so that voters may identify you as a pro-life man of your word, and expose fellow candidates who are giving lip service to this issue but intend to put this on the backburner if elected," Bozell writes in the letter addressed to front-runner Donald Trump. [emphasis added]
It's 2015, and the Republican War on Women is raging, taking center stage in the presidential election.