Planned Parenthood is thanking Senate Democrats for refusing to pass a Republican bill that would have provided $1.1 billion to fight the Zika virus but withheld additional funding for the abortion giant.
Planned Parenthood tweets:
“We are the front line of defense when it comes to battling Zika,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens said Thursday, criticizing Republicans, reports CNSNews.
Laguens argued that the Zika bill proposed by the GOP “does not put the health of women and children first by making family planning and condoms as widely available as possible to prevent what is also a sexually transmitted disease.”
She added that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) “is allowing his party to undermine the ability of family planning providers like Planned Parenthood to do what we do best in the midst of this rapidly spreading Zika virus, a public health crisis that directly targets women and children. This is shameful.”
The Senate has three days this week, following the July 4 break, to pass the measure that would fund anti-Zika efforts. Otherwise, the issue will not be addressed until September, after the summer recess.
As Breitbart News has reported, Planned Parenthood has been taking advantage of fears surrounding the Zika virus and the birth defect known as microcephaly that is linked with the virus. The abortion giant is particularly targeting Latin American countries that have restrictive abortion laws, in hopes of capitalizing on women’s fear and changing those laws.
“It is beyond outrageous that Senate Democrats are blocking $1.1 billion in supplemental Zika funding because they are demanding an even bigger earmark for their political donors, Planned Parenthood,” Maureen Ferguson of The Catholic Association tells Breitbart News. “Half a billion taxpayer dollars annually already flow to Planned Parenthood, which runs the nations largest chain of abortion centers.”
Ferguson adds:
Its U.S. affiliates are eligible to compete for additional taxpayer dollars through the Zika prevention bill, yet they are demanding even more for their affiliates in Puerto Rico. Even worse, they are willing to hold hostage the $1.1 billion designated for hospitals, community health centers, and public health departments for Zika prevention, mosquito control, and vaccine development. Senate Democrats are standing shoulder to shoulder with their political allies, instead of pregnant women living in fear of the Zika virus. This is political cronyism at its worst.
As Roll Call reports, President Barack Obama — a big supporter of Planned Parenthood — demanded Congress delay its summer recess in order to pass his $1.9 billion proposal to fight the Zika virus.
“This is actually something that we could reduce the risks if Congress does the right thing and allocates the dollars that are needed right now to get it done,” Obama said. “The problem right now is the money is stuck in Congress and we have not seen the House and the Senate come together in a sensible [way] to put forward the dollars that we have requested … to get the job done. I expect Congress to get this funding done before they leave for vacation, before they adjourn. That’s part of their basic responsibility.”
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