Lautenberg: Pro-Life People “Don’t Deserve Freedoms in Constitution”

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 25, 2011   |   1:17PM   |   Trenton, NJ

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg is coming under fire from pro-life advocates for comments he made at a recent rally Planned Parenthood staged to save taxpayer funding for its abortion business.

Lautenberg appeared with about 100 supporters who wore pink shirts and stood in front of a pink-colored bus Planned Parenthood has been driving around the country in order to build up support for receiving tens of millions in taxpayer dollars to support what is the biggest abortion business in the country.

“Planned Parenthood is under attack by Tea Party Republicans who have put their extremist ideology above women’s health,” Lautenberg said while pro-life advocates who counterprotested shouted, “Shame on you, Lautenberg.”

The pro-abortion New Jersey senator fired back:  “These people (referring to the pro-life advocates) don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution.”

Then, as an afterthought, he said, “but we’ll give it to them anyway.”

The comment is coming under heavy criticism from Marie Tasy, the director of New Jersey Right to Life.

“Lautenberg’s remarks and attitude were extremely inappropriate for a U.S. Senator,” Tasy told LifeNews.com, adding that the comment “bears repeating because it provides evidence of how Planned Parenthood and its supporters actually feel.”

“This statement is shameful coming from a U.S. Senator,” Tasy added. “Lautenberg made these remarks surrounded by Planned Parenthood employees, supporters and state lawmakers who applauded him. These remarks are absolutely shameful and need to be exposed.”

 

Tasy told LifeNews.com a rally pro-life advocates held was successful despite problems with Planned Parenthood and local officials.

We stood across from Planned Parenthood in Englewood, NJ to say No More Taxpayer Funding of Planned Parenthood!  We told lawmakers we will not fund an organization that was caught on tape engaging in criminal activity – aiding and abetting in the sex trafficking of minor girls.  Planned Parenthood and their political friends were heavy handed.  It was no mistake that one of the organizers and speakers who led the rally was Assemblywoman Valerie Vanieri Huttle.  Asw.Vanieri Huttle’s husband is the Mayor of Englewood and the Assemblywoman represents the town of Englewood.
 
They shut down the street and sectioned off an area for us where we were forced to stand behind yellow tape.  Planned Parenthood supporters were allowed the use of the entire street and a sound system.  We  were told by police that we could not use a sound system because the city of Englewood required a permit. We questioned whether Planned Parenthood obtained a permit.  Not surprisingly, the police officer did not know.   Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I assume so.”   Our attorneys have looked into the matter and informed us that this law did not apply to our gathering, which means our free speech rights were violated.
 
Despite the fact that we had to pay for a sound system we could not use because our free speech rights were violated and Planned Parenthood’s best efforts to chill our message, bully and silence us, they did not succeed.

ACTION: Contact Senator Lautenberg at (202) 224-3224 or https://lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/routing.cfm