Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana Republican, on Wednesday said undercover videotapes that appear to show Planned Parenthood clinic employees offering advice to a “pimp” and services for underage prostitutes are just the latest evidence that Congress needs to cut funding to the organization.
The videos, shot by the anti-abortion group Live Action and released online, show Planned Parenthood clinic workers agreeing to provide “confidential” services for prostitutes as young as 14. The offer was made to a man and a woman posing on the tape as a pimp and a prostitute.
Mr. Pence said the videos are “heartbreaking evidence employees of Planned Parenthood are … facilitating, essentially, the abuse of a minor and sex trafficking.
“What is becoming more evident to people through these tapes and through these revelations … is that [federal funding of Planned Parenthood] has to stop,” Mr. Pence told “America’s Morning News” radio show.
Mr. Pence said he is pushing Congress to support the Title 10 Abortion Providers Prohibition Act, which would “cut off what is in excess of $350 million in taxpayer money that flows into Planned Parenthood through Title 10.”
The Live Action videos, shot in New Jersey and Viginia in January, are similar to the 2009 videos shot by conservative activist James O’Keefe showing unethical practices at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a voters’ rights group. Outrage over those videos led Congress to strip federal funding, eventually leading to the group’s collapse.
• David Eldridge can be reached at deldridge@washingtontimes.com.
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