Embattled GOP Senator Misleads Public on Planned Parenthood
Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) has long misstated that Planned Parenthood uses taxpayer dollars for abortion care in defiance of federal law.
One of the most vulnerable Republicans in the U.S. Senate heading into the 2018 midterm elections, Heller now falsely claims that the health-care organization is funneling taxpayer dollars to campaign ads against “political enemies”—presumably including himself.
“They use those dollars for two purposes,” Heller said in a Tuesday interview on Live And Local With Kevin Hall, a radio show based in Nevada. “One is to perform abortions, and number two, they use it to run ads against people that are conservative. And I don’t think federal dollars should be used by Planned Parenthood to run ads against their political enemies.”
Heller also repeated another favorite, but categorically false, GOP talking point: Community health centers that don’t offer abortions could make up the gap in care that would result from “defunding” or cutting off Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements. Even community health centers have said that’s not possible.
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