Planned Parenthood Backs Pro-Abortion Dem Against Scott Brown

State   |   Andrew Bair   |   Apr 10, 2012   |   4:16PM   |   Washington, DC

In the highly competitive Massachusetts Senate race, Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced its endorsement of pro-abortion Democrat Elizabeth Warren who is challenging incumbent Senator Scott Brown (R).

Despite billing himself as an independent voice in the Senate and having voted to maintain Planned Parenthood’s federal funding in 2011, Senator Brown upset the nation’s largest abortion provider through his opposition to the pro-abortion Obama healthcare law. Planned Parenthood officials cited Brown’s vote in favor of the Blunt Amendment to protect the conscience rights of religious employers as the tipping point for the organization. In its endorsement, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards praised Warren for her unequivocal support for Obamacare and abortion.

Warren came under fire today from the Brown campaign when she echoed President Obama, who said last week that if the US Supreme Court were to strike down the federal individual mandate in Obamacare it would be exercising “judicial activism.” Warren said, “I feel pretty strongly that the constitutional issues, it seems to me, are pretty clear about the capacity of the United States Congress to pass a bill like the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court however as I listen to those arguments seems to want to wade into making their own political judgment.”

Brown campaign director Jim Barnett responded by saying, “Professor Warren is entitled to her own opinion about whether or not Congress overstepped its bounds, but this sort of irresponsible political attack on the court even before judgment is rendered goes too far, and reveals Professor Warren’s elitist tendency to attack anyone and everyone who does not immediately embrace her far-left worldview.”

Rasmussen Polling shows the race in a dead-heat. In a poll released today, Rasmussen found Warren leading Brown by 1% among likely Massachusetts voters.  Brown originally won the Senate seat in a 2010 special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy. Defying all the odds in deep blue Massachusetts, Brown soared to victory and has been an ally to the pro-life movement on many key votes in the pro-abortion US Senate. Brown voted in favor of the Blunt Amendment, he voted to repeal Obamacare and to block funding to the law and he voted against the DISCLOSE Act, which would have limited the free speech of grassroots pro-life groups. In addition, Brown voted against one of Obama’s pro-abortion Supreme Court nominees, Elena Kagan. (Brown was not yet in office to vote on Sonia Sotomayor in 2009.)

Brown’s support for the Blunt Amendment and conscience rights, while earning him the ire of Planned Parenthood, earned him praise from the Bay State’s largest pro-life organization, Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Brown was a co-sponsor of Senator Blunt’s amendment and he supported conscience protections while serving in the state legislature prior to being elected to the US Senate.

Brown released this statement regarding the Blunt Amendment, “One of our most cherished liberties is freedom of religion. Like Ted Kennedy before me, I support a conscience exemption for religious organizations in health care. No one should be forced by government to violate the teachings of their faith. I encourage President Obama to re-examine his health care law and make sure no one is being forced to do something that is contrary to their religious beliefs.”