Haslam says his administration ended any direct contracts with Planned Parenthood in 2011.
Advertisement
The clinics cited by AHCA were performing abortions around 13 weeks, and ACHA Secretary Liz Dudek says that runs afoul of the state rules defining the second trimester, which is between 12 and 24 weeks.
“The federal government has made it clear that states can not cut women off from high-quality health care at Planned Parenthood like this”, echoed Planned Parenthood’s executive vice president Dawn Laguens in a statement.
“As national political candidates shamelessly threaten important health care services for families, we thought it was important to show a strong message of support for Planned Parenthood here in Los Angeles”, said Councilman Mike Bonin, who co-authored the resolution approved by the council.
The issue ramped up when undercover videos were released in July by the Center for Medical Progress, a group that calls itself citizen journalists.
In response, agency spokeswoman Jennifer Read said “we will promptly initiate an investigation”.
“Governor Cuomo and I want a strong message sent to Washington-stop playing politics with women’s health and leave Planned Parenthood alone”, Hochul said in a statement.
“As an organization, it is Planned Parenthood’s intent to continue to be in Louisiana like we’ve been for 30 years”.
Haley’s probe request follows criticism in Congress after videos, released by an anti-abortion group, showed Planned Parenthood officials talking about harvesting and selling fetal tissue for research.
However, the poll suggests that the controversial video footage had an impact on the people surveyed, with 44 percent of respondents who watched it saying they now had a more negative view of Planned Parenthood, while 34 percent said their opinion was unchanged.
In a letter Wednesday, AHCA general counsel Stuart Williams wrote that the agency still believes Planned Parenthood clinics in St. Petersburg, Fort Myers and Naples performed second-trimester abortions for which they were not licensed. Now, Planned Parenthood has filed suit, claiming that the state is trying to redefine what a trimester is.
Advertisement
“Federal funding helps go toward preventive services and education that prevent unwanted pregnancies”, she said.
