Cecile Richards Celebrates Defeat of Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood: “It Would Have Caused Suffering”

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 26, 2017   |   5:18PM   |   Washington, DC

Cecile Richards today celebrated the defeat of the bill to defund Planned Parenthood. As LifeNews reported, Republicans pulled the bill after a handful of recalcitrant Republican Senators indicated they would not support the legislation.

Richards said passage of the bill would have “caused suffering” — never mind the suffering that hundreds of thousands of unborn children each and every year experience at the hands of Planned Parenthood abortionists.

“VICTORY!” the Planned Parenthood email headline from Richards blared.

“We did it! The Senate just pulled its disastrous Trumpcare bill,” she said. “We won for one big reason: You refused to give up. They bet on us being too tired, too demoralized to keep fighting — but they bet wrong.”

“It’s hard to fathom the amount of suffering this disastrous Graham-Cassidy bill would have caused,” Richards ironically claimed. “Of all the terrible versions of Trumpcare we’ve seen this year, this was by far the most extreme: Blocking patients from care at Planned Parenthood.”

“Make no mistake: This bill would have been a tragedy for millions of Americans,” the head of the abortion company claimed. “We averted this national disaster because hundreds of thousands of people like you made sure our lawmakers knew just how many people opposed this toxic bill. You called. You rallied. You emailed. You shared. You tweeted. You donated. At every turn, you refused to give up.”

American Life League president Judie Brown responded to the Richards email in comments to LifeNews.

“Planned Parenthood’s celebration over the defeat of the latest effort to repeal and replace Obamacare is but one more example of its demonic hatred for innocent babies, not to mention its disregard for mothers. We must work harder than ever to defund these bloodthirsty advocates of death by abortion,” shesaid.

Jim Sedlak, executive director of ALL and director of Stop Planned Parenthood International (STOPP), added:

For the second time the pro-life community has worked very hard to support legislation to defund Planned Parenthood only to see the bill not pass. We hope it is clear to those in Congress that Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins will never ever vote for a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood. It is also clear that the few pro-life Democrats in the Senate will always vote with their party and not with the babies. Part of American Life League’s mission is to witness the closing of every local Planned Parenthood medical facility in the country. We have already witnessed the closing of 35 percent (333) of its facilities since 1995, and we will not stop until all are peacefully and prayerfully closed.

This is the latest attempt to defund the nation’s biggest abortion business that has failed thanks the opposition from a handful of Senate Republicans. The reluctance on the part of lawmakers like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski as well as McCain and Paul may prompt primary election challenges in future Republican primaries.

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately

The failure to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business — even though Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House — will put the focus squarely on defeating additional pro-abortion Democrats in the 2018 election. Leading pro-life groups believe additional votes for the bill to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood can be secured if more seats are gained next year.

Republicans in the Senate are just one or two votes short of securing the 50 votes needed to push through the legislation and get it to President Donald Trump’s desk. Trump repeatedly said he would sign a bill to defund Planned Parenthood if Congress approves one.

Leading pro-life groups backed the bill. Family Research Council (FRC) and Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) have announced their shared support.

“The Graham-Cassidy legislation would reapply to federal health care law the principle contained in the Hyde Amendment that abortion is not health care and should not be subsidized. It redirects taxpayer funding away from abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood and provides better state-based health insurance solutions for families than Obamacare,” they told LifeNews.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser released the following joint statement in support of the Graham-Cassidy legislation:

“We applaud Senators Graham and Cassidy for their leadership and strongly endorse the bill they have crafted. This legislation offers Republicans the best chance to fulfill their promises to repeal and replace Obamacare, stop taxpayer funding of abortion, and redirect tax dollars away from the nation’s largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood, to comprehensive health care alternatives.

“It is now well past time for Republicans in Congress to deliver on those promises. The Graham-Cassidy bill offers them the best chance to do that, with only 51 votes needed in the Senate to pass it before the September 30 deadline. The prior Congress passed legislation to repeal Obamacare and fund alternatives instead of Planned Parenthood that would have become law had it not been vetoed by President Obama, and now they have a commitment from President Trump to sign it. The pro-life majority controls both chambers of Congress and the White House. The GOP is without excuse. We urge them to keep their promise and repeal Obamacare and end the forced partnership between taxpayers and Planned Parenthood. Failure to keep their promise to voters will bring into question whether this Congress can truly be called the ‘pro-life Congress.’ Rhetoric must be translated into verifiable action.

“Should robust efforts to enact the Graham-Cassidy legislation though the FY2017 Reconciliation bill run out of time, then the fight to redirect funds from Planned Parenthood must move immediately to the FY2018 Tax Reconciliation bill. Planned Parenthood proudly self-reports taking the innocent lives of 328,348 unborn children last year and nearly one million over the past three years. That is 900 lives snuffed out before their first breath every single day by a single taxpayer-funded abortion chain. This tragedy is compounded every day that passes with inaction. The time for results is now. Lives depend on Congress’ leadership and action to enact the Graham-Cassidy bill.”

Unlike the continuing resolution in the debate over the budget, which require an unobtainable 60 votes to defund Planned Parenthood, the new health care legislation is a Reconciliation bill that requires only 50 votes to pass through the Senate and to get the President Donald Trump’s desk.

However the last attempt to pass a Reconciliation Bill did not obtain enough votes as three pro-abortion Republicans opposed the measure. They included former presidential candidate John McCain who typically votes pro life, as well as pro-abortion Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. If pro-life Advocates want the nation’s biggest abortion business to be defunded, they will need to begin calling those three Senators office offices in droves.

Earlier this year, the abortion chain Planned Parenthood finally released its annual report.

The report shows increases in abortion numbers and taxpayer funding in 2015, alongside decreases in contraception, breast exams and overall patient numbers.

Planned Parenthood continued to maintain its status as the largest abortion provider in the United States. The abortion group performed 328,348 abortions on unborn babies, 4,349 more than the previous year, according to the report.

At the same time, it saw 2.4 million patients, about 100,000 fewer than the previous year and about 500,000 fewer than five years ago. Contraception services, which the abortion chain touts as its primary service, also dropped from 2.94 million to 2.8 million during the past two years.

Meanwhile, the abortion chain received more taxpayer funding. The report shows Planned Parenthood receiving $554.6 million, up from $553.7 million the previous year. This increase occurred while pro-abortion President Barack Obama was in power.

This pattern is consistent with its annual reports from the past several years. Abortions and taxpayer funding keep going up, while patient numbers and other services go down.

A recent congressional investigation into the abortion business involving its sales of aborted baby parts concluded with lawmakers recommended that Congress defund it. Planned Parenthood also has been caught in numerous scandals involving Medicaid fraud and failures to report suspected sex trafficking and sexual abuse of minors.

Earlier this year, Planned Parenthood leaders refused an offer to receive an increase in taxpayer funding if they stopped doing abortions. CEO Cecile Richards called the offer “obscene and insulting,” making it very clear that abortions – not women’s health care – are what really are important to Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood claims it is an essential provider of women’s health care, but its own annual reports show it continues to center its practices around aborting unborn babies.

President Donald Trump promised to sign a bill that would defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

Recent polls also indicate Americans support the defunding efforts. New polling found 56 percent of Americans in battleground states want Planned Parenthood defunded.

The abortion company has also been exposed for selling the body parts of aborted children. The expose’ videos catching Planned Parenthood officials selling the body parts of aborted babies have shocked the nation. Here is a list of all 14:

  • In the first video: Dr. Deborah Nucatola of Planned Parenthood commented on baby-crushing: “We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.”
  • In the second video: Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Mary Gatter joked, “I want a Lamborghini” as she negotiated the best price for baby parts.
  • In the third video: Holly O’Donnell, a former Stem Express employee who worked inside a Planned Parenthood clinic, detailed first-hand the unspeakable atrocities and how she fainted in horror over handling baby legs.
  • In the fourth video: Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Savita Ginde stated, “We don’t want to do just a flat-fee (per baby) of like, $200. A per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it.” She also laughed while looking at a plate of fetal kidneys that were “good to go.”
  • In the fifth video: Melissa Farrell of Planned Parenthood-Gulf Coast in Houston boasted of Planned Parenthood’s skill in obtaining “intact fetal cadavers” and how her “research” department “contributes so much to the bottom line of our organization here, you know we’re one of the largest affiliates, our Research Department is the largest in the United States.”
  • In the sixth video: Holly O’Donnell described technicians taking fetal parts without patient consent: “There were times when they would just take what they wanted. And these mothers don’t know. And there’s no way they would know.”
  • In the seventh and perhaps most disturbing video: Holly O’Donnell described the harvesting, or “procurement,” of organs from a nearly intact late-term fetus aborted at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s Alameda clinic in San Jose, CA. “‘You want to see something kind of cool,’” O’Donnell says her supervisor asked her. “And she just taps the heart, and it starts beating. And I’m sitting here and I’m looking at this fetus, and its heart is beating, and I don’t know what to think.”
  • In the eighth video: StemExpress CEO Cate Dyer admits Planned Parenthood sells “a lot of” fully intact aborted babies.
  • The ninth video: catches a Planned Parenthood medical director discussing how the abortion company sells fully intact aborted babies — including one who “just fell out” of the womb.
  • The 10th video: catches the nation’s biggest abortion business selling specific body parts — including the heart, eyes and “gonads” of unborn babies. The video also shows the shocking ways in which Planned Parenthood officials admit that they are breaking federal law by selling aborted baby body parts for profit.
  • Unreleased Videos: Unreleased videos from CMP show Deb Vanderhei of Planned Parenthood caught on tape talking about how Planned Parenthood abortion business affiliates may “want to increase revenue [from selling baby parts] but we can’t stop them…” Another video has a woman talking about the “financial incentives” of selling aborted baby body parts.
  • The 11th video: catches a Texas Planned Parenthood abortionist planning to sell the intact heads of aborted babies for research. Amna Dermish is caught on tape describing an illegal partial-birth abortion procedure to terminate living, late-term unborn babies which she hopes will yield intact fetal heads for brain harvesting.
  • The 12th video in the series shows new footage of Jennefer Russo, medical director at Planned Parenthood in Orange County, California, describing to undercover investigators how her abortion business tries to harvest intact aborted babies’ bodies for a local for-profit biotech company and changes the abortion procedure to do so.
  • The 13th video: exposes a Planned Parenthood medical director admitting that babies born alive after abortion are sometimes killed.
  • The 14th video: catches Planned Parenthood executives discussing gruesome abortion procedures and the sale of body parts from aborted babies for profit.

ACTION: Contact U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Contact Senator Susan Collins as well as Sen. John McCain and Sen. Rand Paul.