The group Senate Conservatives Action is circulating a letter implying that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is deceiving pro-lifers on the question of Planned Parenthood funding.
Signed by its president Ken Cuccinelli, former attorney general of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the letter says McConnell “wants you to think he opposes the effort to defund Planned Parenthood in the continuing resolution (CR) because it could cause a government shutdown.”
Cuccinelli also says, “He also wants you to think it’s because he doesn’t have 60 votes in the Senate when in fact it only takes 41 votes to filibuster funding for the organization.”
The dirty little secret, Cuccinelli says, is McConnell is either in favor or indifferent to the sale of fetal body parts and actually favors Planned Parenthood, at least according to his record.
“In 1992, McConnell voted to allow taxpayer-funded research using body parts from aborted fetuses,” says Cuccinelli. This policy was vetoed by George H.W. Bush but later signed into law by Bill Clinton, “making abortion even more profitable for Planned Parenthood.”
Senate Conservatives Action says that same year McConnell voted in favor of overturning something called the “Reagan Rule” that prohibited Planned Parenthood from using taxpayer money for abortion counseling.
In 1997 McConnell voted against a ban on federal funding for research on baby parts derived from abortion. From 1998 onward, McConnell voted at least 15 times to fund Planned Parenthood.
“Senator McConnell isn’t 100% pro-life. He has repeatedly voted to force American taxpayers to fund Planned Parenthood, its pro-abortion counseling, and research on the babies it aborts,” says Cuccinelli.
The National Right to Life Committee would disagree with Cuccinelli’s assertions. They have typically given him a 100% score including a 2011 vote to defund Planned Parenthood, numerous votes to defund ObamaCare, and others.
This is not the first time Senate Conservatives Action has gone after McConnell. The group, founded by current president of the Heritage Foundation, former Senator Jim Demint, rans ads against McConnell during his most recent Senate bid in 2014.
Senate Conservatives Action is asking supporters to urge their Senators to oppose the continuing resolution that funds Planned Parenthood.
Follow Austin Ruse on Twitter @austinruse
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