In an interview with CNN this morning, pro-life Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called the Planned Parenthood abortion business a “abortion factory” and said government shouldn’t be funding it. But the businessman said he would be open to funding Planned Parenthood’s few non-abortion activities, something he is going to have to explain and clarify in the future.
“The problem that I have with Planned Parenthood is the abortion situation. It is like an abortion factory, frankly,” Trump said. “And you can’t have it. And you just shouldn’t be funding it. That should not be funded by the government, and I feel strongly about that.”
When asked about the smaller non-abortion component of what Planned Parenthood does, Trump appeared to be alright with taxpayer funding.
“What I would do when the time came, I’d look at the individual things they do, and maybe some of the individual things they do are good. I know a lot of the things are bad. But certainly the abortion aspect of it should not be funded by government, absolutely,” he said.
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Trump added, “I would look at the good aspects of [Planned Parenthood], and I would also look, because I’m sure they do some things properly and good and that are good for women, and I would look at that, and I would look at other aspects also. But we have to take care of women.”
Some conservatives on Twitter quickly took issue with Trump, saying he supported the satus quo right now — where the Hyde Amendment prohibits abortion funding but Planned Parenthood still receives well over $500 million in taxpayer funds for family planning — dollars that free Planned Parenthood funds to promote and perform abortions.
Though Trump has said he would go as far as shutting down the government to de-fund Planned Parenthood, he will need to explain specifically what Planned Parenthood funding he intends to keep or get rid of so pro-life voters can determine if he is pro-life enough to support as a presidential candidate.
Where pro-life presidential candidates stand on de-funding Planned Parenthood is important given that a new pro-life president is necessary to de-fund the abortion business since Democrats in the Senate are blocking legislation to de-fund it.
In an interview last week, Trump was more strongly in favor of de-funding Planned Parenthood. He was asked on “The Hugh Hewitt” show Monday night if he supported shutting down the federal government in order to de-fund Planned Parenthood.
“Well I can tell you this: I would,” Trump replied.
Last month, in an interview, Trump told Dana Loesch that Planned Parenthood should be defunded in light of the recent videos showing their top executives negotiating the sale of aborted babies’ body parts.
Trump said, “It’s disgusting. And absolutely they should be defunded. I thought it was so cavalier, so horrible.”
In the past, Trump has shared that he is pro-life on abortion. For example, in January he said, “I’m pro-life and I have been pro-life. It’s an issue and a strong issue.” However, Trump admits that at one time he wasn’t against abortion but changed his mind after developing relationships with close friends who have children.
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In an interview with the Des Moines Register newspaper, he explained, “If you look at it, I said, ‘It really, really troubles me, and it really, really bothers me, the whole concept of abortion.’ This was years ago, and even then it really bothered me, but I went on the other side of the line,” Trump said. “But in thinking about it over the years, I’ve had instances, and one instance in particular, a friend had a child who they were going to abort, and now they have it, and the child is incredible. And the man, he changed his views also because of that.”
“As I’ve grown older, as I’ve seen things happen in life, I’ve changed my views — and others have also,” he said.
