The abortion giant Planned Parenthood attacked U.S. Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada this week with a misleading new ad claiming he voted to stop women from getting cancer screenings.
Heller, a pro-life Republican who is up for re-election, has voted repeatedly to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. Because Planned Parenthood also provides cancer screenings, the abortion chain used that point to misleadingly attack Heller.
“He voted over nine times to stop women from getting cancer screenings, STI testing and birth control from Planned Parenthood,” the Planned Parenthood Votes ad claims.
“My health care deserves a second thought,” the woman in the video concludes. “Dean delivers? More like Dean disappoints.”
But Heller has been a true supporter of health care for women in and outside the womb. Heller has a 100-percent pro-life voting record from the National Right to Life Committee this session. These include votes to defund Planned Parenthood and to ban abortions after 20 weeks when strong scientific evidence indicates unborn babies can feel pain.
The Planned Parenthood ad is particularly deceptive, not only because the defunding efforts are about its abortion practices, not cancer screenings, but also because Planned Parenthood’s own annual reports indicate it is doing fewer cancer screenings and other non-abortion services.
An analysis of Planned Parenthood’s reports from 2009 to 2014 found its cancer screenings dropped 63 percent and breast exams dropped 56 percent. In that same time period, its taxpayer funding increased and abortion numbers remained steady.
LifeNews depends on the support of readers like you to combat the pro-abortion media. Please donate now.
What’s more, elected officials have been clear that if Planned Parenthood is defunded, the money will be redirected to community health centers, which offer women a wider variety of health care services than Planned Parenthood. The only thing they do not provide is abortions.
Heller is a key target for abortion activists. The Hill reports pro-abortion Democrat Hillary Clinton won Nevada in 2016, and Heller may be the most vulnerable Senate Republican up for re-election this fall.
His Democrat challenger U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen is pro-abortion and is endorsed by Planned Parenthood. She has a consistent record of opposing pro-life legislation.
Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups are spending more than $50 million on the midterm elections to help pro-abortion Democrats regain power in Congress.
Republicans have a fairly strong majority in the U.S. House, but narrowly hold the U.S. Senate. Senate Republicans have too few votes to overcome filibusters on key pro-life bills such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and measures to defund Planned Parenthood. Just a few more pro-life wins in the Senate could see important pro-life legislation passed. A few losses could bring pro-abortion Democrats back into power.
