Congressman Cohen: Continued Hearings Just A Waste of Time and Money If Even Republicans Admit Planned Parenthood Didn’t Break the Law

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today spoke out against House Republicans’ continued efforts to dismantle women’s health services provider Planned Parenthood, which nearly 3 million women each year rely on for health care. The Congressman’s remarks came after Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, admitted to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that there isn’t evidence Planned Parenthood broke any law, undercutting a main reason to have these hearings at all. Video of the Congressman’s remarks can be found here.

“Even Republican Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz has admitted there isn’t any evidence that Planned Parenthood broke any law, but his party is still committed to this war on America’s most vulnerable women,” said Congressman Cohen. “They didn’t break the law, but Planned Parenthood has provided critical health services—97% of which have nothing to do with abortion—to nearly 3 million women each year. Instead of trying to tear down an upstanding non-profit organization that helps low-income and minority women across this country, we should do everything in our power to support Planned Parenthood and protect women’s health.”

The recent hearings on Planned Parenthood were prompted by several heavily edited and discredited videos that were released to mislead the public regarding the work done by Planned Parenthood. The claims made about the videos, including those implying violations of law by Planned Parenthood employees, are unsubstantiated and rely on significant editing that removes critical context and changes the meaning of what was actually said by the health provider’s staff members. During his remarks today, the Congressman showed footage that had been edited out of the released videos that directly contradicting the claims of improper or illegal actions.