Liberal NEA Activist Pushes “Republicans for Planned Parenthood”

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 30, 2012   |   11:26AM   |   Tampa, Florida

A liberal activist who formerly worked with the National Education Association in Washington is the head of a Planned Parenthood outreach called Republicans for Planned Parenthood that seeks to find support from the few pro-abortion Republicans at the GOP convention.

Randy Moody, is the national co-chair of the pro-abortion group’s GOP outreach effort. He retired in 2010 as the head of federal advocacy at the NEA, a group that takes a stance supporting legalized abortion. At the NEA, Moody was the chief lobbyist. He is also an original board member of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political branch of the abortion business and a 20-year member of the Planned Parenthood board of directors from 1995-2002

In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Moody, the Republican County Chairman of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, made his case for the abortion giant as a supposed natural fit for conservatives. Still, he admitted that he and pro-abortion Republicans like him are a rarity. Republican County Chairman of Lancaster County

“Supporting abortion rights and reproductive health care is a traditional conservative philosophy, because it represents individual liberty and freedom of choice,” he said. “But it’s pretty hard now for anyone supportive of women’s health and reproductive rights to hold a leadership position within the party. We have some officeholders who support reproductive rights, like [Rep.] Richard Hanna and [Sen.] Olympia Snowe, but I have to be candid and say that number has dwindled considerably.”

Moody said Republicans for Planned Parenthood is heading to the Republican National Convention to try to moderate the policies in the party’s platform. The group wants abortion taken out of the platform entirely, and public funding for family planning to be added in. It also wants the abstinence-only education plank replaced with one supporting comprehensive sex education.

So far, he said, “no one has tried to spit on me or throw me down the stairs” at the convention, but he expects attendees to be less friendly to the policies he’s advocating this year than they were a decade ago.

“I’m hoping there will be a change in attitude,” he said. “Some of the comments by the presidential nominee-to-be have not been helpful. What we’re trying to do here is send another message that maybe they ought to reconsider, not only as public policy but also as a political statement, because women vote.”

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

Moody did make it to the GOP convention and spoke to a few hundred people Planned Parenthood managed to get together to counter-protest the GOP convention

He told the attendees: “We have an obligation as Republicans to rally behind Planned Parenthood; to rally behind women’s personal freedom to make their own health care decisions; and to rally behind smart, fiscally sound investments in family planning.  We MUST move this country forward.  And we will only do this by supporting politicians who stand with Planned Parenthood.”

Should Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan win in November, they have both already pledged and voted to de-fund the abortion business.

Romney called for de-funding Planned Parenthood earlier this year.

“I also feel that the government should cut off funding to Planned Parenthood,”said. “Look, the idea that we’re subsidizing an institution that provides abortion, in my view, is wrong. Planned Parenthood oughta stand on its own feet and should not get government subsidy.”

Romney also touted his pro-life credentials, saying, “I am a pro-life individual, I was a pro-life governor, I served as a pro-life governor, I’m a pro-life candidate. I simply do not want to participate in anything that takes the lives of an unborn child.”

Romney has called for de-funding Planned Parenthood previously.

In November, Romney had an opinion column in USA Today in which he advocated numerous ways to balance the federal budget, one of which involves eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood.

Romney proposes repealing Obamacare — which pro-life groups virtually unanimously opposed because of concerns related to taxpayer funding of abortions, rationing issues, and lack of conscience protections for pro-life medical workers. He says that will save $95 billion in 2016.

Romney previously pledged to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business in October during his speech before the Values Voter Summit.

“Our values must also encompass the life of an unborn child,” Romney told the thousands of pro-life advocates gathered for the Family Research Council event. “There are, of course, strong convictions on both sides of this issue. Yet it speaks well of our country that almost all Americans recognize that abortion is a problem.”

“The law may call it a right, but no one ever called it a good. And in the quiet of conscience, people of both political parties know that more than a million abortions a year can’t be squared with the good heart of America,” Romney said.

The former governor pivoted from a philosophical position to talking about his political views and what he would do if elected president.

“I support the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions,” Romney said, “As president, I’ll end federal funding for abortion advocates like Planned Parenthood. I’ll protect a health care worker’s right to follow their conscience in their work.”

“I will nominate judges who know the difference between personal opinion and law. It is long past time for the Supreme Court to return the issue of abortion back to the states by overturning Roe v. Wade,” he added.