FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 9, 2017
Contact: Mallory Quigley, [email protected] 202-223-8073; Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, [email protected]
More than 200 #ProtestPP Rallies to take place this Saturday, Feb. 11th
Washington, D.C. – Citizens across America will hold rallies this Saturday, February 11 to urge Congress to redirect taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion business, to comprehensive health care centers. Activists will gather outside over 200 Planned Parenthood facilities in 44 states and the nation’s capital to #ProtestPP. There will also be overseas support with a demonstration at the London headquarters of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which was recently defunded by executive order.
“Americans want to end taxpayer funding of abortion – that includes stopping taxpayer funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, and ensuring any Obamacare replacement is pro-life, and does not allow tax dollars or tax credits to pay for health care plans that include abortion,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Planned Parenthood is a profit-driven, abortion-centered business that has performed more than 300,000 abortions in the last three years for which data are available. They do not need or deserve taxpayer dollars, and redirecting their federal funding to rural and community health centers would be a victory for women’s health. These comprehensive clinics outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 nationwide and provide far more services. The majority of Americans want taxpayer funding to go to real women’s health care, not abortion. This Saturday, that majority will let their voices be heard at #ProtestPP gatherings nationwide.”
A complete list of events, all happening this coming Saturday, February 11, is available online.
These #ProtestPP rallies will emphasize four key points:
- Planned Parenthood performs 34% of US abortions – underscoring the fact that they are not a general health care service provider.
- Fraudulent Medicaid claims, fetal tissue harvesting, and documented health code violations show Planned Parenthood’s systemic disregard for accountability to taxpayers.
- Planned Parenthood provides less than 2% of manual breast exams, fewer than 1% of pap tests, and 0% of mammograms, annually.
- Moving Planned Parenthood’s funding to federally qualified health centers will offer women and their families a wider range of health care services and a higher standard of care.
“Planned Parenthood’s brand is at an all-time low and their leadership reflects how disconnected they are from science and basic American values. This weekend thousands of Americans will stand in peaceful opposition to send a message that abortion is not health care and as the nation’s largest abortion operation, Planned Parenthood should not get $1 of taxpayer money, much less $430 million,” stated Shawn Carney, President, 40 Days for Life.
“The federal government has been subsidizing Planned Parenthood to the tune of more than $430 million annually,” explained Eric Scheidler, national organizer of #ProtestPP and executive director for the Pro-Life Action League. “This, at the same time that the nation’s largest abortion provider holds $500 ticket fundraisers and charges a woman about $500 to abort her baby. On top of that, Planned Parenthood is trafficking baby body parts. Taxpayers are sickened to see their money spent in support of these atrocities.”
President Donald Trump has made four specific commitments to the pro-life movement, including reallocating Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding to comprehensive, whole-woman health care centers. Polling in 2018 Senate battleground states shows that voters support redirecting Planned Parenthood’s funding to community health centers.
###
