Statement on Rep. McMorris Rodgers Town Hall

SPOKANE – Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii (PPVNH) released the following statement after Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ continued to cite misleading information and talking points to the small group of constituents at her town hall meeting.

Statement from Treasure Mackley, Political and Organizing Director, PPVNH:

“Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers stood in front of constituents at a town hall meeting and continued to state inaccurate information and misleading talking points to further the destructive mission of Congressional Republican leadership to eliminate Planned Parenthood. When McMorris Rodgers talks about “defunding” Planned Parenthood, she really means blocking patients who depend on Medicaid funds from getting their care at Planned Parenthood health centers. In Washington, as the only representative in our state to vote for the unpopular and dangerous American Health Care Act that included “defunding” language, she needs to answer to the more than 98,000 people who rely on Planned Parenthood for preventive, lifesaving care

“Rep. McMorris Rodgers knows full and well, federal funding does not pay for abortions and that community health centers can’t absorb Planned Parenthood patients. Planned Parenthood receives Medicaid reimbursements for preventive care, including birth control, life-saving cancer screenings, and HIV testing. These are the services that have led to historic lows in teen pregnancy and unintended pregnancies and are the very improvements in health care access that Rep. McMorris Rodgers claims to support.

“It may be a game to extremist politicians like Rep. McMorris Rodgers, but to the 98,000 patients who rely on federal funding for Planned Parenthood services, it is not a game.”