September 9, 2015

This Is the Dumbest Thing Said in the Planned Parenthood Hearing (So Far)

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Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) would feed America’s hungry children—if only Planned Parenthood weren’t eating up so much (.00015 percent) of the federal budget.

That’s what he said in Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the undercover sting videos that allegedly show Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal parts in violation of federal law. The hearing is part of a drive to strip the group of the $500 million in federal funds it uses to support family planning care.

“Could you please tell me why Planned Parenthood needs to get over half a billion dollars of federal funding every year when there are other pressing needs, such as feeding hungry children, that we maybe we should be putting that money into?” Stensenbrenner asked Priscilla Smith, the director of the Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice at Yale Law School.

“The question is whether Congress should appropriate another half-billion dollars plus to Planned Parenthood when we could be spending that money on feeding hungry children,” he continued. “This is a question of priorities. I’d like to know what your priority is: Planned Parenthood, or feeding hungry children?”

Watch the hearing here.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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