Yesterday, Planned Parenthood of Utah sued pro-life governor Gary Herbert for ordering the state’s health department to cut off federal funding to their organization. As LifeNews previously reported, in August, Utah became the fifth state to de-fund Planned Parenthood in the wake of videos exposing their organ harvesting business.
Utah’s health department found approximately $225,000 to take from the abortion giant’s budget and representative Tom Hudachko said, “We are going to be eliminating all of those contracts or allowing some of them to expire.” He added, “We can redistribute the money to other partners.”
Of course, Planned Parenthood was furious over the governor’s decision and argued that de-funding their company would hurt women. Planned Parenthood attorney Peggy Tomsic said, “This action of Governor Herbert and his directive to the Utah Department of Health and other agencies is unprecedented. We aren’t going to stand idly by. We aren’t going to allow the governor to play politics with our health and lives. We are standing up and fighting back.”
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However, according to a statement received by Fox News, Gov. Herbert plans to stand by his decision to cut Planned Parenthood’s federal funding. The governor’s office said, “Gov. Herbert stands by his actions to cease acting as a pass-through for federal funds to Planned Parenthood. He was offended by the actions of Planned Parenthood and the callousness with which they discussed human life. The health of Utahns, especially women, remains a priority for the governor. He will continue working with the state health department, local health departments, community health centers, non-profit clinics and others to provide these important services.”
Thankfully, recent polling conducted by Jones and Associates found that 56% of Utahns view Planned Parenthood in a negative light, while only 37% view them favorably. The Salt Lake City Tribune reported that the poll took place from August 7-9th and surveyed 500 adults in the state. Additionally, the survey found that most do not support using fetal “tissue” for research.
The managing editor for UtahPolicy.com, Bryan Schott, said the new figures show that most Utahns would agree with the governor’s decision to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood. He said, “If I had to take a guess. I would say it probably wouldn’t move the needle too much.”
As expected, Utah Democrats and Republicans who participated in the Planned Parenthood poll shared the same views as their party. 79 percent of Republicans disapproved of Planned Parenthood, while only 9 percent of Democrats said the same. Also, 73 percent of Republicans said they didn’t support fetal research and only 20% said they did.
Unfortunately, 79 percent of Democrats in the state said they still supported Planned Parenthood despite the new videos, and 73 percent said they support fetal-tissue research. However, 50 percent of unaffiliated voters said they viewed Planned Parenthood unfavorably, while 43 percent said the opposite.
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