http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/255066-pelosi-hits-gop-over-planned-parenthood-committeeSeptember 26, 2015, 02:39 pm
Pelosi blasts GOP plans for panel to probe Planned Parenthood
By Ben Kamisar
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is bashing House Republicans’ plans to create a select committee focused on investigating Planned Parenthood after the release of controversial videos about the group’s handling of fetal tissue.
“The Speaker’s resignation has not yet broken Republicans’ fevered obsession with shutting down government at the expense of women’s health,” she said in a statement Saturday, noting Friday’s news that Speaker John Boehner will depart after October.
“Make no mistake: House Republicans have renewed their war on women's health… Hard-working families deserve better than a taxpayer-funded Republican Committee fixated on dismantling women’s health.”
She noted that one in five women use Planned Parenthood’s services each year for healthcare, including cancer screenings.
“With this Committee, Republicans are trying to make it easier to shut down the government and harder for millions of women to access the lifesaving health care they need.”
Her statement follows the GOP’s weekly address, where Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said that the House would create the new select committee.
Funding for Planned Parenthood has become one of the most contentious issues after an anti-abortion rights group began to release surreptitiously-filmed videos from the group alleging impropriety.
Critics argue that the group should not receive any federal funding because it performs abortions and that the videos show the group discussing selling fetal tissue and organs. But the group’s supporters have argued that the videos have been selectively edited in order to push false claims.
Pelosi compared the committee to the other recently-created House committee that’s investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks. Democrats have accused House Republicans of using that body to politicize the investigation and hurt Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions.
