Frank Torres
Orlando U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has condemned the recent investigation of the 16 Planned Parenthood clinics in Florida, ordered by Gov. Rick Scott after a series of much-debated videos surfaced of Planned Parenthood executives said to be negotiating the sale of human tissue.
In a prepared statement Grayson slams the attacks on the healthcare agency:
“Planned Parenthood provides extraordinarily valuable health services to women in Central Florida, and throughout the country. Roughly one out of four American women have relied on Planned Parenthood’s care,” Grayson said Friday. “Such care is particularly important to poor women, like the 500,000 women in Florida excluded from Medicaid by the Republicans’ malicious refusal to extend Medicaid to them.
“The Agency for Health Care Administration’s (AHCA’s) attack on Planned Parenthood is, in reality, an attack on women’s healthcare, and women’s health. If the attempt to destroy Planned Parenthood is successful, the inevitable result is that many women will suffer and die. Our mothers, sisters and daughters deserve high-quality, affordable medical care. It is disturbing to see the lengths to which the GOP goes, to deny them that basic human right.”
The AHCA announced Wednesday that three Planned Parenthood locations were cited, accused of performing second trimester abortions, and a fourth was accused of not keeping proper records of their disposal of fetal remains. Barbara Zdravecky, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, has called the allegations false and said the clinics are operating in full compliance.
Last week, a letter signed by Jacksonville state Rep. Charles McBurney called for a second investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The letter was co-signed by Central Florida State Reps. Mike La Rosa, and Scott Plakon. All three Republican lawmakers have fully condemned Planned Parenthood’s alleged activities.
