The daughter of President George W. Bush told Texas abortion advocates on Wednesday that she is “proud” to stand with Planned Parenthood.
Barbara Pierce Bush, daughter of the former pro-life president, was the keynote speaker at a posh lunch fundraiser to benefit Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, with sponsorships of up to $20,000. This is the same affiliate whose abortion practitioner Amna Dermish was caught by the Center for Medical Progress explaining how she was striving to harvest “intact” aborted babies’ brains in later-term abortions.
Bush’s support of the abortion chain puts her at odds with her pro-life father who defunded International Planned Parenthood during his first week in office as president.
Media were not allowed at the fundraiser, but the Texas Tribune obtained audio of Bush’s speech, according to the Dallas News. WFAA reports Bush did not mention the word abortion, but her support of Planned Parenthood’s work was clear.
“I am proud to stand with Planned Parenthood not only because women, regardless of where they are from, deserve to live dignified, healthy lives, [but] … because it’s a really good investment,” Bush said. “We know that when women are healthy, their families and their children are healthier, too.”
Here’s more from the Tribune:
“Our belief that health is a human right is not reflected in today’s reality,” she said. “Millions of people’s potentials and futures are undermined simply because they do not have access to the health care that they deserve. We have these incredible tools to solve problems, yet health systems are weak, and we need new leaders to fix them.”
Bush also said she was frustrated that people are still having to make a “case for why women’s health matters in 2017.” However, she said she was inspired by the people who came to Wednesday’s event.
Later, the former first daughter continued: “To me, Planned Parenthood is a one-stop shop for everything that has to do with women’s health and all social problems that don’t have to do with women’s health. I hope you all realize the incredible investment that you’re making for both women and also their kids, their kids’ education and their income level.”
This could not be further from the truth. Planned Parenthood’s focus is abortion, ending the lives of about 320,000 unborn babies in abortions every year.
The non-abortion health care services it offers are very limited. The abortion chain has touted offering mammograms and prenatal care, but investigations revealed that both services are basically nonexistent at Planned Parenthood.
Further, Planned Parenthood’s own annual reports show its non-abortion services – including breast exams, cancer screenings and pap smears/tests – have been dropping rapidly, while its abortion numbers remained steady and its taxpayer funding increased.
Because of its abortion practices and numerous scandals involving aborted babies’ body parts, sex trafficking and more, Congress has several bills in the works to defund Planned Parenthood. It currently receives about half a billion taxpayer dollars annually.
Outside the Texas fundraiser Wednesday, pro-lifers protested the abortion giant and Bush’s support.
“We don’t understand why Barbara Bush, someone with her talents and abilities, would be lending her time to an organization like Planned Parenthood,” Students for Life regional coordinator Jillian Ferguson told reporters. “She cares deeply for people. And so it doesn’t really make sense to us that she would be helping to support an organization that clearly does not.”
Fox News 4 reports pro-lifers from Students for Life of America, Pro-Life Waco, the Catholic Diocese of Dallas’ Pro-Life Committee, the Prestonwood Pregnancy Center in Dallas and the Texas Pro-Life Action Team showed up to protest outside the fundraiser venue.
Former President George W. Bush left a strong pro-life legacy during his presidency, signing every pro-life bill that reached his desk. During his administration, Bush saw abortions decline to new lows, and he made history in 2003 by signing the first measure to ever ban a form of abortion: brutal, late-term partial birth abortions.
He also demonstrated his pro-life commitment on his first day in office when he re-instituted the Mexico City Policy, which stops taxpayer funding of groups that promote or perform abortions in other nations, including to International Planned Parenthood. Later he extended that policy further to prevent pro-abortion funding within all State Department programs.
