Businessman Donald Trump is sticking by a slightly more nuanced view of Planned Parenthood than many other Republicans are offering, saying that while he’s against the group’s abortion services, they still offer positive programs for women.
“There’s two Planned Parenthoods, in a way,” the 2016 GOP presidential contender said in an interview that aired Tuesday evening on Fox News’ “Hannity” program. “You have it as an abortion clinic. Now that’s actually a fairly small part of what they do, but it’s a brutal part, and I’m totally against it, and I wouldn’t do that.”
“They also, however, service women, and one of the things that I thought was so terrible when Jeb Bush the other day … when he talked about women’s health issues, he was so bad. I mean, it’s like, what is he doing?” Mr. Trump said.
“We have to help women,” he said. “So we have to look at the positives, also, for Planned Parenthood. You know, even a guy like you — you may be convinced it does some positive things. I would look at it very strongly. We have to help women.”
Mr. Trump offered a similar position in an interview on CNN Tuesday, saying he’d look at the “good aspects” of the group but that the abortion aspect should not be funded.
In the wake of a series of undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress appearing to show Planned Parenthood executives discussing the preservation of fetal specimens, other Republicans and 2016 contenders have called for an end to all federal funding for the group.
Earlier in the month, Mr. Trump appeared to support a would-be government shutdown in order to defund the group, though a measure to strip out funding ultimately failed to overcome a procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate earlier in the month.
“Maybe unless they stop with the abortions, we don’t do the funding for the stuff that we want,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday’s broadcast. “There are many ways you can do that, Sean, because I’m totally against the abortion aspect [of] Planned Parenthood, but I’ve had many women — I’ve had many Republican conservative women come up and say, ’Planned Parenthood serves a good function other than that one aspect.’ “
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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