Republicans and Democrats sparred over funding for Planned Parenthood on Tuesday, using a House hearing to spotlight deeply personal questioning and testimony over abortion and health care.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards testified before the House Oversight Committee as her organization faces deep scrutiny for a series of edited videos released over the summer which purportedly show organization officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue.
Richards and Planned Parenthood supporters have blasted the videos — produced by conservative activists at the Center for Medical Progress — as misleading. But the videos have become potent tools for conservatives looking to end federal support for the group.
Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, opened the hearing with an emotional story of his mother and father dying from cancer. He choked up at times as he talked about losing them. He talked about his wife’s work with a plastic surgeon who does reconstructive surgery for women with breast cancer. He then pivoted to his argument that the government should spend more on cancer screening and research while ending funding for Planned Parenthood.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with providing health care to young women who need a breast exam,” Chaffetz said.
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the panel’s top Democrat, fired back, saying that most of the federal funding goes to services for poor women. He then countered with his own personal story, noting that his mother-in-law died from cancer last week.
“I understand what you’re talking about. I get it,” Cummings said.
Richards, in written testimony, called the videos “a deliberate and systematic effort by (CMP Director) David Daleiden and other opponents of safe and legal abortion to infiltrate our health centers, try to entrap our staff into potentially illegal conduct, and create discredited, doctored videos designed to smear Planned Parenthood.”
Following Richards’ opening comments, Chaffetz opened a rapid-fire line of questioning, verbally running over Richards repeatedly as he painted a picture of one Planned Parenthood organization dedicated to political work and abortions, not health care.
“My guess is you run the mothership here. When you show up and want to have something done, it’s probably done,” he said.
At one point, Chaffetz denied a member’s request that he yield.
Richards struggled to answer as Chaffetz repeatedly said he had limited time and many questions. But when she did, she said their political work and health care operations were clearly — and legally — separated.
As Chaffetz presented a slide that showed an increase in abortions, Richards said she was blindsided and had not seen the slide before. “It doesn’t feel like we’re trying to get to the truth here,” she said.
The undercover videos have been at the center of the effort by conservative Republicans to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood, with some threatening to shut down the federal government if federal funding for the group isn’t ceased. That effort failed in the Senate, but House lawmakers will decide Wednesday on whether to shut down the government as part of the vote on another continuing resolution.
House Speaker John Boehner, who has denounced conservative hardliners since he announced his plan to resign last week, promised Sunday he would work with Democrats to keep the government open.
Outside Washington, the debate over Planned Parenthood and its abortion services has been one of the dominant issues from the campaign trail to state capitols.
Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert announced that he would no longer allow federal dollars to pass through the state to the group, spurring the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah to announce Monday that it was suing the state.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster launched an investigation of Planned Parenthood in July, shortly after the first CMP video was released. But he said Monday that the probe “discovered no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis facility is selling fetal tissue,” according to Koster, a Democrat.
The videos were repeatedly referenced during both Republican presidential debates in recent weeks, as several 2016 hopefuls have urged Congress to defund the organization.