Activists renew fight over taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood

Abortion-rights opponents are targeting Planned Parenthood with a new report that accuses the organization of a variety of offenses, including a failure to report sex trafficking.

Live Action, a group that uses undercover videos to promote its agenda, distributed the report to each member of Congress in an effort to reignite the debate over taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.

{mosads}”An organization that lies to women and kills three thousand children every day for profit can have no valid claim on a single American’s paycheck,” said Live Action President Lila Rose in a statement.

“It’s a grave injustice that our government and our president actively promote this extreme form of violence. It’s a disgrace that we are all forced to fund it.”

Planned Parenthood dismissed the report’s allegations and said Live Action is trying to shut down its clinics.

“This report is just a rehash of claims and discredited assertions that have been aired years ago,” said Eric Ferrero, vice president for communications in a statement. 

“As a high-quality healthcare provider, we have extremely high standards and take swift action if we learn that our high standards are not being met. That’s not what this organization’s political campaign is about; their agenda is to cut women off from access to healthcare.”

Planned Parenthood receives government funding to subsidize medical care under Title X, a 1970 law that encourages family planning and preventive health services.

The services vary by clinic, but can include birth control, pelvic exams, Pap tests and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases.

Federal law prohibits taxpayer dollars from funding abortions, but opponents of Planned Parenthood argue that any federal payment to the group ultimately subsidizes its abortion services.

House Republicans have pushed to defund Planned Parenthood several times since they won their majority in 2010. In her letter to lawmakers, Rose urged lawmakers to redouble their efforts to “immediately halt all taxpayer funding” to the group.