Anti-Planned Parenthood rally postponed in wake of Colorado shooting

She described attempts to blame the attack on rhetoric she has campaigned on as “typical left-wing tactics”.

Just weeks after she was called to testify before Congress regarding Planned Parenthood’s practices, Richards sung the organization’s praises.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush eliminated state funds for Planned Parenthood centers in Florida, but they still received about $1.12 million in federal grants previous year for sexual education and teenage pregnancy prevention programs.

“Those are separate issues completely”, No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas said of Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue donations and the attack on its clinic.

“I don’t know what they want”, she said.

For weeks earlier, NARAL had been collecting signatures on a petition calling on the FBI to investigate recent threats and arson attacks against Planned Parenthood as acts of domestic terrorism. “But the Taxpayers Rally to Defund Planned Parenthood can not continue while the families and loved ones of these victims are grieving”, Stemberger said in a released statement. “And I hope everyone understands that I stand with Planned Parenthood”.

“We’ve seen that across the country from all sorts of speakers in the last few months”, Cowart said.

Planned Parenthood has always been targeted by anti-abortion activists, whose behavior has occasionally turned violent.

“We have security protocols in place to ensure the safety of our staff and patients”, said Betty DeFazio, director of community affairs and public policy for Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York. Democrats also referred to the shooting on Friday, which killed three people, as an act of terror – language that abortion rights supporters have pushed lawmakers to use to suggest that a network of anti-abortion groups and advocates have helped fuel violence.

Robert Lewis Dear, who acquaintances have called a loner, is accused of killing three people in the Colorado attack.

Republicans stepped up their attacks on Planned Parenthood over the summer, after an anti-abortion group released videos purporting to show leaders of the family planning organization endorsing the sale of fetal parts, which Planned Parenthood has repeatedly said it does not.