Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015.

Madam Speaker, we all remember the images of Kermit Gosnell killing babies who were born alive after a botched abortion.

We know that those are sickening, and we know that they have renewed the demand for accountability from the American people. That is why we come before you today with H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015.

New documentation of these heinous practices that we have seen in videos, videos that have come out of Planned Parenthood abortion clinics of harvesting the body parts of babies as part of the abortion process, have raised serious questions about the possible systematic and repeated violation of State and Federal laws.

H.R. 3134 provides a 1-year moratorium, a freezing--a freezing--on the Federal funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and all of its affiliates while investigations are ongoing regarding the practices of the abortion industry.

Madam Speaker, most people think that is common sense. If there is reason to investigate, then there is reason to withhold taxpayer dollars during that period of time. Those dollars would be given to other facilities that provide women's health services.

The American taxpayer has been very clear for a long time that they do not want taxpayer money spent on abortion; 68 percent of Americans oppose it. What is so interesting to me is that we know that 71 percent of all millennials oppose this.

I would remind my colleagues, Madam Speaker, there is no difference between men and women on this. There is bipartisan opposition from men and women to this practice. Additionally, the majority of Americans are opposed to the sale of body parts of babies obtained after abortion.

So the discussion today is not about videos or women's health access. We know there are other ways to get that access. It is about our most basic right. It is about the right to life.

It is also about doing what the taxpayers sent us to D.C. to do. It is also about continuing the process to protect our most vulnerable citizens, innocent little babies.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I was beginning to think that we were off on a different bill there for just a moment.

Madam Speaker, I yield 15 seconds to myself to respond.

Madam Speaker, we are not on a bill about a government shutdown. We are on a bill that will make certain that women have access to health care, H.R. 3134. I will remind my colleagues that it does remove the funds from Planned Parenthood, and it does enable them to go to women's health clinics.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Black), who is the author of this legislation and has been such an advocate for addressing women's healthcare needs.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield 10 seconds to myself to respond.

Again, Madam Speaker, refocusing us on the bill, we are talking about being certain that there is access to health care. Cancer screenings and prevention services from Planned Parenthood have been cut in half over the past 7 years. They do not perform mammograms. They perform over 300,000 abortions annually.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the vice chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I will never be ashamed of standing up and defending life--ever--and I find it so interesting that our efforts to protect life are termed ``radical.'' That is an interesting turn of events, if I say so myself.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 5 seconds to respond.

For 98.5 percent of the pregnant women who received a pregnancy-related service at Planned Parenthood, that service was an abortion.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to respond.

We are hearing words such as ``denied,'' ``deprived,'' ``detriment'' to women's healthcare. We are increasing women's health care. Tennessee has four Planned Parenthood clinics and 26 federally qualified health clinics.

Also, I would remind my colleagues the investigation is ongoing. It is ongoing. It started yesterday at Energy and Commerce. We will continue through this to get to the bottom of it.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to respond to some of the comments and to remind my colleagues this investigation that we are conducting is ongoing.

Cancer screenings and prevention services have been cut in half at Planned Parenthood over the past 7 years. They do not perform mammograms; they outsource it. They perform over 300,000 abortions annually; that is their own number.

Madam Speaker, 98.5 percent of the pregnant women who go there go for an abortion.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to respond.

Madam Speaker, they sure want that government shutdown. I do want to remind them that we have over 13,000 community health centers in the country. Planned Parenthood has cut their cancer screening and prevention services in half in the past 7 years, and they do not perform mammograms, but they do over 300,000 abortions.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 20 seconds to respond to something.

Our colleagues across the aisle have a colleague

from New Jersey who previously spoke. I want to reference a press release that was sent out August 15 from his office on community health centers:

Community health centers attend to hard-to-reach populations and are a vital resource that have a significant impact in improving health in New Jersey.

Talking about reaching hard-to-serve populations, this is what we are doing. Let's put the money where it meets the most needs.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds.

I would encourage all Members to read the bill. It is very short. It is about three pages. What it will do is freeze this funding for a year so we can do the investigation, and it sends it to some of the 13,000 community health centers that are in the country.

We have even got a press release from one of their colleagues extolling the values of these community health centers.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I am going to close and draw to an end this debate. I do want to remind all my colleagues that we are not discussing government shutdown. What we are talking about is a bill that would withhold funds from Planned Parenthood for a period of a year, while we have an investigation.

Now, I know they have called this a smear campaign. We are investigating the operations of Planned Parenthood.

Why are we doing this? Planned Parenthood is big abortion in this country--300,000 abortions a year, as opposed to 1,800 adoption services; 98.5 percent of all women who go there for a prenatal service, it is an abortion. Think about that, 98.5 percent.

There is reason to review how they use taxpayer funding, and we are justified in withholding taxpayer funds until we finish that.

Now, our colleagues have chosen to say that we are radical, dumb, shameful, disrespectful, foolish, extremists, deniers, deprivers, mean-spirited, and beating up on women. Think about that. All because we stand for life, for liberty. We stand for life rights, a first right, and these are the names that you attach to people who defend those rights.

Saturday, I went to a baby shower. An excited grandmother said, Meet my granddaughter. It was an ultrasound, a 3-D ultrasound. Her name is Jessica. That is a baby with a life, and Planned Parenthood is aborting 300,000 of those lives each year.

It is time for taxpayer money to be withheld. I support the bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, we all know that Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. For them to get that money, while they are under investigation for profiting off the sale of body parts, baby body parts, is just absolutely abhorrent.

What this bill does is to put a 1-year moratorium while we conduct the investigation. Let's be real clear about that, a 1-year moratorium while we do our due diligence. That is what you call smart business, doing your due diligence, being a steward of the taxpayers' money.

Now, I have found it so interesting that they continue to say this will cut access to women's health care. No, it will not.

Do you know Planned Parenthood sees less than 2 percent of all American women in a given year? There is an amendment on this legislation by Mrs. Ellmers, it redirects $235 million to the FQHCs, the federally qualified health centers.

It will increase access because we have more of those centers in more underserved areas, and they are required to provide services which include diagnostic lab and radiological services.

Planned Parenthood has cut those screenings and cancer screenings and those services in half over the last few years, while they have increased their abortions to 300,000 a year.

We are right in restricting these funds to Planned Parenthood while we conduct this investigation. We are right to be a steward of the taxpayer money.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the motion to recommit and a ``yes'' vote on the passage of H.R. 3134.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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