"Ms. Richards said the videos were edited by the activists to mislead..."
Really...that's going to be hard to prove after this came out!
Forensic Analysis of Videos Exposing Planned Parenthood Finds “No Evidence of Manipulation”
They got her dead to rights with the analysis from Coalfire Systems. But watch, Republicans will figure out a way to f--- it up.
They got her dead to rights with the analysis from Coalfire Systems. But watch, Republicans will figure out a way to f--- it up.
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Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, listened to an opening statement of Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON — The embattled president of Planned Parenthood on Tuesday angrily disputed what she called “outrageous accusations” by Republicans that her organization profits from the sale of fetal tissue, telling Congress that the charges are “offensive and categorically untrue.”
In testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the president, Cecile Richards, faced off against conservative lawmakers who are seeking to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood after videos released by anti-abortion activists purported to show officials from the health group trying to sell fetal tissue. It was her first appearance before Congress since the issue exploded in July.
Ms. Richards said the videos were edited by the activists to mislead, and she insisted that Planned Parenthood sells only a small amount of fetal tissue and recoups only reasonable expenses as allowed by the law.
“The latest smear campaign is based on efforts by our opponents to entrap our doctors and clinicians into breaking the law — and once again our opponents failed,” Ms. Richards said.
The appearance by Ms. Richards before the House committee underscored a broader fight between the parties over Planned Parenthood as the clock ticks on a government shutdown that will begin on Thursday if a stopgap spending bill cannot be passed. While the funding fight is ostensibly about abortion and fetal tissue, the subtext is politics: Republicans perceive Planned Parenthood as a well-oiled, well-funded machine promoting Democratic candidates.
Tuesday’s hearing quickly became contentious as Republican lawmakers assailed the organization as more a political advocacy organization that wastes federal money than a health care group that deserves to receive taxpayer dollars.
Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, called the videos “barbaric and repulsive” and accused Planned Parenthood of what he called a “repulsive game” that included shifting government funding from Congress to Democratic politicians. He said lawmakers should shift federal money away from Planned Parenthood and to other health care priorities.
“Take the money from the guys doing the bad things, and give it to the ones who aren’t,” Mr. Jordan said.
Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah and chairman of the committee, opened the hearing with a tearful commentary about the death of his mother to breast cancer, and the death of his father to cancer as well. He said he felt strongly that federal money should be shifted away from Planned Parenthood so it could go to other health care research.
But he quickly moved to attack Planned Parenthood as a wasteful organization. He accused the group of spending millions on political activities, lavish parties, travel, and health care expenses overseas, and repeatedly noted that Ms. Richards earned an annual salary of more than $500,000.
“That has absolutely nothing to do with providing health care to women,” Mr. Chaffetz said, “It’s a political activity.”
Ms. Richards and Democratic lawmakers came to the group’s defense, accusing the Republican lawmakers of using “highly edited videos” and misleading information about Planned Parenthood to advance a political agenda.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, lamented what she called a “relentless campaign” by her Republican colleagues against Planned Parenthood.
“Make no mistake: Despite what we hear, Republicans are doubling down on their war against women,” Ms. Maloney said, adding later, “We need to recognize this fight for what it is — it’s about banning a woman’s right to choose.”
Later, Ms. Maloney accused Mr. Chaffetz of “beating up on a woman, our witness, for making a good salary.” She noted that Ms. Richards oversaw a large health care provider and said that she found Mr. Chaffetz’s comments about her salary “totally inappropriate and discriminatory.”
For her part, Ms. Richards repeatedly insisted that no federal money is used to pay for abortion services, and she said that most of the federal funding to her organization — about $400 million per year — comes through Medicare reimbursements for health care services provided to women.
In response to questions from Mr. Chaffetz, Ms. Richards insisted that she does not manage the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, a political lobbying group that she said is managed as a separate organization. Mr. Chaffetz pointed out that Ms. Richards received $31,000 last year for services provided to the fund, but Ms. Richards said, “I don’t directly manage, no sir.”
Ms. Richards also clashed with Mr. Jordan over a video apology that she issued just days after the video about fetal tissue first emerged. Mr. Jordan insisted that she must have believed the contents of the video were true if she apologized for them.
Ms. Richards said that she apologized because she thought it was “inappropriate” that the doctor in the video had a “clinical discussion, in a nonconfidential, nonclinical setting.”
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