The Conservative Opportunity Society—founded in 1983 by Newt Gingrich and Vin Weber, among others—is a Republican members-only group that meets for breakfast every Wednesday morning when the U.S. House of Representatives is in session. Each week, Chairman Rep. Steve King (R-IA) brings in different prominent speakers to address the group—this week, GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson will make an appearance.
Carson is the first official GOP presidential candidate who will speak to the group. Rick Santorum and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) both spoke to the Conservative Opportunity Society, but it was prior to their official presidential announcements. King told Breitbart News other candidates will come to speak after the August recess.
Carson, who is pro-life and spent his career saving lives, will be speaking about the recent undercover videos that show Planned Parenthood officials attempting to sell aborted baby body parts. Carson will also address defunding Planned Parenthood.
“I came in as Chairman of Conservative Opportunity Society… a little over a decade ago and we have long had high profile speakers,” Rep. Steve King exclusively told Breitbart News.
“We’re looking forward to Dr. Ben Carson being our speaker tomorrow morning. We had booked him some weeks ago, but the timing of this with the Planned Parenthood videos coming out—it happens to be, I think, perfect timing to hear from Dr. Carson.”
King referenced the undercover videos of the Planned Parenthood officials and how the third video was released Tuesday. King said it was “the most sickening of the three—so far.”
King referenced how Carson’s career was spent “saving lives” and improving the quality of lives. “I expect him to deliver a strong pro life message tomorrow morning,” King told Breitbart News, adding that he believes Carson will discuss the effects of the research of aborted babies and the affect it has on society.
King referenced a quote of Carson’s that was something to the effect of, “if we can’t defund Planned Parenthood over this, what can we do?”
“I know that the Speakers come out very strongly in opposition to this Planned Parenthood under this experimentation… with them selling body parts,” King explained to Breitbart News, referencing Congress’s attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.
He said it appears Congress wants an investigation and conduct some digging into the organization.
King explained that in late September, the Speaker of the House will want to complete the Continuing Resolution and fund the government for the next fiscal year.
This is when King believes the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood will come to a head.
“If you’re pro life… simply calling for a moratorium gives Planned Parenthood a chance to spend millions of dollars lobbying in this capitol,” King explained, referencing some of the measures members are pushing to stop funding the organization until after an investigation.
“I say this—I can’t imagine how I’d vote for any kind of appropriations bill that funds Planned Parenthood and I think we should do it and do it now like we did with Acorn,” King stated. “The Justice Department should be investigating this. There should be prosecutions brought forward on it. There ought to be people that go to jail over this, but it’s the Obama administration—so the proper reaction from the United States Congress is to shut it all off and send a message to the states.”
“They’re closing in on 60 million babies that have been aborted in this country,” King said. He added that there has been resistance building in Congress against Planned Parenthood since King got elected.
“Taxpayers should never be compelled to fund any organization that provides abortion services or counseling,” King concluded.