There will be a select committee to "investigate" Planned Parenthood after the
House voted on Wednesday, 242 to 184, to create a 13-member panel. This after House Oversight Committee Chairman (and would-be Speaker of the House) Rep. Jason Chaffetz
admitted that Planned Parenthood had broken no laws. Nonetheless, the
resolution creating the committee came to the floor and passed.
The four-page bill does not mention Planned Parenthood by name. Instead, it charges the committee to investigate “fetal tissue procurement,” “federal funding and support for abortion providers” and “born-alive” abortions, generally.
But Republicans were clear that the committee’s work is intended to deepen three existing House committee probes into Planned Parenthood, which began in early August. The committees have held three hearings as part of their investigations, which has prompted Planned Parenthood to turn over at least 20,000 documents, according to Democrats.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will lead the panel, with Republicans apparently believing that having a woman head up it up will inoculate them against charges that this is just more of their War on Women. They're wrong. And that they're creating this committee directly on the heels of Rep. Kevin McCarthy's admission that the Benghazi hearings are all about beating Hillary Clinton makes what they're doing even more transparently political. Which Democrats have been quick to point out.
"Here we go again" said Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL). "Planned Parenthood is the new Benghazi." Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) suggested that "who knows, maybe the select committee on Planned Parenthood can shed some light on Benghazi." "I prefer to call it a taxpayer-funded campaign committee," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). As of now, Democrats haven't decided whether they'll participate in this one.
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