Hillary Clinton strongly defended Planned Parenthood Thursday as the women’s health organization reels from the fallout over a sting video released by anti-abortion activists earlier this month.
“For more than a century, Planned Parenthood has provided essential services for women,” Clinton said while campaigning at a community college in Greenville, South Carolina. “And I think it is unfortunate that Planned Parenthood has been the object of such a concerted attack for so many years. And it’s really an attack against a woman’s right to chose.”
RELATED: Will Planned Parenthood’s allies blink?
Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion services, is under heavy fire after a group called the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released hidden camera footage of Planned Parenthood executives speaking about fetal tissue donations to CMP activists, who posed as a representatives of a medical research company.
Scientists can legally use donated fetal tissue from abortions for research, but the videos have reignited the partisan fight over abortion, and led Republican lawmakers to call for stripping federal funds from Planned Parenthood.
Clinton noted that Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards has apologized for insensitivity shown by employees in the video, and acknowledged that the group will continue to face questions, but Clinton said the organization provides critical health services, especially to poor women, that must continue.
“I’m hoping this situation will not further undermine the very important services that Planned Parenthood provides across our country,” Clinton said.
It’s hardly the first time Planned Parenthood, whose political arm is also a top advocate for abortion rights, has come under attack. During the 2012 election, Democrats rallied behind the group when a different sting video lead to attempts to rescind federal funding.
It’s taken some time for allies to respond to the latest attack, but Democrats appear to once again be circling the wagons around Planned Parenthood. Before Clinton spoke Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi dismissed the controversy as a GOP invention. And White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the videos were “selectively edited to distort not just the words of the individual speaking, but also Planned Parenthood.”
RELATED: Group releases second Planned Parenthood sting video








