Culp-Ressler writes: "For weeks, Planned Parenthood has been embroiled in a high-profile political controversy that's triggered congressional hearings and a potential government shutdown. Now, the national women's health organization is fighting back with a grassroots day of action that relies on some creative means."
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, testifies Tuesday during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. (photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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With Planned Parenthood Executive
30 September 15
or weeks, Planned Parenthood has been embroiled in a high-profile political controversy that’s triggered congressional hearings and a potential government shutdown. Now, the national women’s health organization is fighting back with a grassroots day of action that relies on some creative means — including free testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in two dozen cities.
The organization has declared Tuesday to be “Pink Out Day” and says that million of Americans are set to rally at more than 200 volunteer-led events across the country. Supporters of Planned Parenthood’s reproductive health services are also being encouraged to participate by wearing pink clothing, turning their social media profiles pink, or using the #PinkOut hashtag.
On Tuesday afternoon, several members of Congress — including Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Judy Chu (D-CA), and Nita Lowey (D-NY) — plan to deliver more than 2 million petition signatures urging their fellow lawmakers to refrain from defunding Planned Parenthood. Those petitions will be in bright pink boxes, according to a spokesperson from the organization.
And perhaps in an effort to emphasize the fact that Planned Parenthood provides other health services in addition to abortion, the organization is also offering free STI testing in 28 cities that have disproportionately high rates of infections as part of Pink Out Day.
Planned Parenthood, which is one of the largest family planning providers in the country, is sometimes the only available provider of low-cost reproductive health care. One of the biggest chunks of Planned Parenthood’s budget comes from providing basic health services — like birth control consultations, STI testing, and cancer screenings — to people enrolled in Medicaid.
The Pink Out campaign coincides with a congressional committee hearing focused on the recent allegations surrounding Planned Parenthood stemming from a video campaign that accuses the organization of profiting from the sale of aborted baby parts. Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, is set to testify on Tuesday before the lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
According to Richards, her testimony will emphasize the fact that “one in five women in America has relied on Planned Parenthood for care in her lifetime,” which is the central message that advocates hope to convey with the national day of action as well.
“Denying people the ability to go to Planned Parenthood would harm millions of people. These baseless, political attacks are about one thing — interfering with women’s personal medical decisions,” Richards said in a press statement released this week.
There are several moving pieces in the ongoing Planned Parenthood controversy. In addition to the congressional committees investigating the group — despite no evidence that Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue donation programs break any state or federal laws — national lawmakers have also threatened to provoke a government shutdown by including a measure to defund Planned Parenthood in the funding bill necessary to keep the government operating.
Now that House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will step down at the end of October after facing mounting pressure from right-wing members of his party dissatisfied with his approach to those negotiations, it’s become more likely that Congress will pass a bill to keep the government open that doesn’t seek to defund the national women’s health organization.
However, that doesn’t mean the group is out of the woods. Republicans appear to be pursuing new strategies that will allow them to both avert a shutdown and target Planned Parenthood. On Tuesday, both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee will consider measures to allow Congress to defund Planned Parenthood without being blocked by Senate Democrats, who have so far been able to filibuster bills seeking to strip funding from the organization.
