Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam took talking points directly from the Planned Parenthood abortion chain in January around the time when he made his infamous comments defending infanticide, new government documents revealed this week.
Documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showed that the Democrat governor and his staff worked very closely with the billion-dollar abortion chain. One of Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax’s senior staff members even used a Planned Parenthood email address, according to the government records.
“These new emails show that Planned Parenthood was running the press operations of the Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam after he endorsed infanticide during a radio interview,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is incredible that a former Northam staffer was actually using a Planned Parenthood email address to launder abortion talking points to other government officials and the media.”
The pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List described the relationship as “corrupt and barbaric.”
According to the report:
The February 1, 2019, FOIA documents obtained by Judicial Watch show that on January 30, 2019, Alexsis Rodgers, a policy director in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, used a ppav.org [Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia] email account.
Northam told WTOP radio: “If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated, if that’s what the mother and the family desires. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.” Several hours after Northam gave the viral interview on WTOP, Rodgers sent talking points from her ppav.org email account titled “Topline messages for Northam” to PPAV representative Missy Wesolowski, who then forwarded them to the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Services, Gena Berger.
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Rodgers suggested that Northam respond to the controversy with talking points such as, “There is no such thing as an abortion up until birth” and “These are complicated medical decisions that families deserve to make in private without political interference,” according to the FOIA documents.
The documents also show communications between the governor’s office and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. In one email, the Virginia HHS secretary’s office asked NARAL to send talking points to Northam for an upcoming appearance with the pro-abortion group, according to the report.
Northam faced national condemnation in January when he defended legislation that would have allowed abortions up to the point when a woman is in labor.
Northam, a physician, said at the time: “If a mother is in labor…the infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and mother.”
During his campaign for governor, Northam received huge contributions from the abortion industry. The abortion business Planned Parenthood announced a $3 million budget to back Northam.
Northam’s position on abortion is extreme and out of touch with most voters. The National Right to Life Committee explained why Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other pro-abortion groups wanted him in the position.
“Northam’s position is so extreme he supports abortion on demand – that’s abortion for any reason anytime during the pregnancy – and he favors using your tax dollars to pay for abortion,” said Karen Cross, political director for NRLC, previously.
Virginia Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Jennifer Allen previously called Northam a “champion” for supporting abortion on demand.
Planned Parenthood invests tens of millions of dollars into electing pro-abortion Democrats every year, and it works with them closely after they are elected – even going so far as to craft their press releases and talking points.
Northam is not alone.
In May, news broke that Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold relied heavily on the abortion group while crafting her response the new pro-life law in Alabama. In 2015, similar ethics questions surfaced about Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf after he relied on Planned Parenthood for talking points about undercover videos showing potentially illegal baby body parts sales at the abortion chain.
