Sanders: Dems will ‘fight back’ against Planned Parenthood defunding

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday vowed to fight back against Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. 

Sanders called the plan an “obsession” that has “nothing to do with improving healthcare.”  

Republicans in Congress have returned to their old obsession of trying to defund Planned Parenthood. This is outrageous for many reasons.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 9, 2017

Republicans’ plan has nothing to do with improving health care. They want to defund Planned Parenthood simply because it provides abortions.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 9, 2017

{mosads}Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said last week that language defunding Planned Parenthood would be included in a bill repealing ObamaCare. 

With a Republican majority in the House and Senate, and an incoming Republican president, the GOP stands its best chance in years of defunding the organization. 

Republicans have long sought to defund Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions, though no federal funding is used for the procedure. 

Democrats, including Sanders, argue that cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood would hurt millions of low-income women who rely on the organization’s healthcare services.  

Abortions are not only legal. They are constitutionally protected, a right which was affirmed again in a Supreme Court ruling last summer.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 9, 2017

Planned Parenthood provides an array of health care to patients across the country. They help over 2.5 million Americans each year.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 9, 2017

Planned Parenthood mostly helps low-income people. Four out of five of those who benefit are at or below 150% of the poverty line.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 9, 2017

Women in this country have a right to health care & a right to control their own bodies. No cuts to Planned Parenthood. We will fight back.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 9, 2017