A Minnesota U.S. senator who is under fire for allegedly groping a sleeping woman also is a big supporter of the abortion industry.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a pro-abortion Democrat from Minnesota, consistently votes pro-abortion and even attacked a pro-life group earlier this year by calling it a “hate group.” He also criticized the Trump administration recently for trying to save a young immigrant and her unborn baby from abortion.
Now, it is clear that Franken is not the women’s advocate that he claims to be.
On Thursday, a woman named Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of forcibly kissing her and later groping her while she was asleep during a 2006 tour to entertain U.S. troops, the BBC reports. Tweeden also produced a photo of Franken smiling as he appeared to be groping her breasts while she was asleep. Franken was a comedian at the time and did not enter politics until two years later.
“You knew exactly what you were doing,” Tweeden wrote in an article about Franken. “You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it, knowing I would see it later, and be ashamed.”
Franken apologized after the story broke Thursday, but he also said he does not remember “aggressively” kissing Tweeden.
“As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it,” he said. “… I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann.”
In a second statement released later in the day, Franken added: “I respect women. I don’t respect men who don’t. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.”
Franken is just one of several big abortion industry supporters who have been accused of sexually assaulting women in the past few months. Hollywood film mogul Harvey Weinstein is another.
Just four years after the alleged incident with Tweeden, the radical pro-abortion group NARAL featured Franken as its keynote speaker at a fundraising banquet.
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“Franken took some heat from women’s groups for his satirical jokes about women during his days as a comedian, but he’s earned their support by becoming one of the most relentless campaigners for abortion on Capitol Hill,” LifeNews reported at the time.
The Center for Responsive Politics reported at the time that Franken brought in $81,500 from pro-abortion groups during his first U.S. Senate campaign, making him the candidate to receive the most direct funding from such groups other than presidential candidates, according to the Star-Tribune newspaper.
Since then, Franken has been a close ally of Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other pro-abortion groups, fighting against pro-life legislation and working to keep Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding.
He received hearty congratulations from the top abortion chain in 2014 when he won re-election.
“Senator Al Franken has been a strong supporter and advocate for women’s health and women’s rights,” Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards praised. “With Senator Al Franken in office, we are one step further along in protecting women’s health, preventing unintended and teen pregnancies, and ensuring a safe and healthy future for women and families.”
It’s now apparent what empty words they are.
