State's 2 back Senate ax for Planned Parenthood

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, arrive for a news conference Wednesday to talk about Ernst’s bill to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, arrive for a news conference Wednesday to talk about Ernst’s bill to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton have signed on to a Senate effort to ban federal funds from Planned Parenthood after the release of several videos showing the organization's employees talking about using fetal remains for research.

photo

AP

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., speaks in front of the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Tuesday, May 26, 2015.

photo

AP

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., speaks in front of the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Tuesday, May 26, 2015.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

U.S. Rep. French Hill is shown in this file photo.

"This is something I think a civilized society just can't tolerate," Boozman, a Republican, said.

The bill would halt the more than $500 million that Planned Parenthood receives annually from the federal government to provide a variety of health services to mostly low-income women, including mammograms, emergency contraception and tests for sexually transmitted diseases. That money would instead be available to community health centers, hospitals and state or county health centers that provide similar services.

Senate Republican leaders say they will bring the measure up for a vote early next week before senators leave for several weeks for the August recess.

The four Arkansans serving in the U.S. House said they back similar efforts to block funding. The House recessed Wednesday and isn't scheduled to return until September.

Federal law already prohibits tax dollars from being used for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to save the mother's life.

Over the past few weeks, the conservative anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress released edited clips of conversations with Planned Parenthood executives, doctors and staff members talking about how much money the organization would receive for passing on various body parts for medical research.

On Tuesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order barring the group from releasing any video of leaders of StemExpress, a California company that provides fetal tissue to researchers, The Associated Press reported. The company has been featured in the three released videos.

The temporary restraining order issued Tuesday will remain in place until a hearing Aug. 19.

Planned Parenthood has said it donates remains only if the mother requests it and that it gets reimbursed for transporting the tissue.

The organization says it doesn't profit off the process. Federal law prohibits selling fetal tissue for a profit but doesn't restrict what can be charged for shipping and processing.

Some of the organization's affiliates, in fewer than five states, provide tissue that is used for medical research focused on a variety of diseases like muscular dystrophy, AIDS and Parkinson's, the AP reported.

Planned Parenthood has locations in Fayetteville and Little Rock.

Boozman said many people were disgusted by news of the videos, adding that Planned Parenthood has lost Americans' trust.

"It shows a blatant disregard for human life. The cavalier attitude that was displayed as they were talking about how to salvage body parts ... I think that the majority of the public just don't feel like their taxpayer dollars need to go toward that direction," Boozman said.

Cotton, also a Republican, called the videos "shocking to the conscience."

"This is not as much a legal decision for Congress; this is a moral decision. The tapes speak for themselves," Cotton said.

He said others would better use the money.

Planned Parenthood has "shown themselves not to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars," Cotton said. "We can redirect that money to other organizations like Arkansas' 90 community health centers that provide very important health care services for women without that money being used to subsidize this kind of appalling conduct."

Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards released a video on July 16 defending its handling of fetal remains, saying the videos released by the anti-abortion group were edited to remove context and mischaracterize the process.

"I want to be really clear: The allegation that Planned Parenthood profits in any way from tissue donation is not true. Our donation programs -- like any other high-quality health care providers -- follow all laws and ethical guidelines," she said. "Planned Parenthood stands behind our work to help women and families donate tissue for medical research when they wish to. It is always their decision."

On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood asked the National Institutes of Health to convene a panel of independent experts to study concerns regarding the use of fetal tissue for medical research, according to The Associated Press.

Susan Allen, spokesman for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which Arkansas' facilities are part of, said in a statement that nothing is more important to the organization than the health and safety of its patients.

"This measure is a politically motivated attack on Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and on the thousands of patients we serve at our health centers in Arkansas. Politicians are using this widely discredited attack to push through legislation rolling back women's access to health care, including cutting basic, preventive health care -- lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, [sexually transmitted infection] testing and treatment, and well-woman exams -- from millions of Americans, including women in Arkansas," she said.

Allen said she doesn't know how much federal funding the Arkansas facilities receive.

About 41 percent, or $528 million of Planned Parenthood's $1.3 billion in revenue, comes from federal grants and Medicaid reimbursements, according to the organization's 2013-2014 annual report.

The report states that just 3 percent of services it performs are abortions. The bulk is testing for sexually transmitted diseases and dispensing contraceptives.

The Arkansans serving in the House, all Republicans, say they're reluctant to give tax dollars to Planned Parenthood.

U.S. Rep. French Hill said he wants to stop federal funding for a year while Congress investigates whether the organization broke the law.

"It's important to do the investigation so we can hear what facts come out. The videos are alarming, so I think it's warranted," Hill said.

U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford said the issue isn't about being for or against abortion.

"There are even folks that are pro-choice that are having a very hard time defending the actions of Planned Parenthood as it applies to brokering fetal tissue. It's a ghastly practice," he said.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman said that regardless of whether Planned Parenthood broke the law, his constituents don't want their taxes to go toward it.

"The business that they are in is more about money than anything else," Westerman said. "I don't believe taxpayers want to see their tax money going into an organization that sells baby parts, that's the bottom line."

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack said he can't believe that people would be all right with knowing that the federal government gives millions to a group that saves fetal tissue for research.

"To even suggest that human tissue, fetal tissue, would be harvested by anyone or any organization for profit is beyond disgusting," Womack said. "The revelations in these tapes ... go against every known value attached to human life that one could have and deserve the full weight of Congress to investigate. I can't imagine anyone believing that the appropriation of taxpayer money to an organization that is committed to these practices would ever be acceptable."

Metro on 07/30/2015

Upcoming Events