Giving more credence to the
possibility that Republicans in Congress colluded with the anti-choice extremists to manufacture a Planned Parenthood scandal, a whole mess of Republicans were ready to announce
investigations and hearings and amendments. At this moment, Senate Republicans are
using every venue possible to attack Planned Parenthood, even at the expense of veterans' health care.
The issue led longtime abortion-rights ally Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to ask the committee to pull back legislation at the Veterans’ Affairs Committee after Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., sought to amend the bill with the effect of blocking funding for organizations such as Planned Parenthood. […]
Stand-alone legislation has also begun to surface on both sides of the Capitol. For instance, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., filed a bill that would block federal funding from Planned Parenthood during a yearlong moratorium, unless the group ceases to offer abortion services.
Pro-choice Democrats are fighting back, standing firmly on the side of Planned Parenthood and focusing attention on the extremist anti-choice group behind the attacks. That includes asking the Justice Department to investigate the Center for Medical Progress on a number of fronts, from its apparently fraudulent filing for nonprofit status with the IRS to its illegal clandestine recording of conversations with Planned Parenthood staff. Democrats have written to Attorney General Loretta Lynch
requesting an investigation into "whether any federal or state laws were violated in securing the LLC or the personal identification that were part of its execution," and about "possible coordination between the Center for Medical Progress and Members of Congress who knew about the video weeks in advance of its release."
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi bustressed that request Thursday, urging Lynch to investigate and saying "[l]et's have an investigation of those people who were trying to ensnare Planned Parenthood in a controversy that doesn't exist." Lynch says she is reviewing "all information" in considering what, if anything, to investigate in the matter.
