Sedlak was referring to a Wednesday vote in which the Senate added an amendment prohibiting taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood to the state budget. The amendment was introduced by Senator Ken Cuccinelli.
"Planned Parenthood has long been an organization opposed by the majority of Americans across the country," Sedlak explained. "Citizens are upset that Planned Parenthood comes between parents and children, runs the largest abortion chain in the nation and does it all while collecting millions of taxpayer dollars and making millions of dollars in profit every year."
Sedlak noted that if the amendment is upheld in the Senate and House conference, Virginia will join West Virginia, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah as states that do not give taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood. "Many other states, including Texas, Colorado, Ohio and Missouri, are cutting back on funding for Planned Parenthood as the dissatisfaction with the organization's activities spreads," he also noted.
"It is significant that this vote comes in the same week that Dr. Alveda King has demanded that Planned Parenthood stop using the name and image of her uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on its website," Sedlak continued. "Planned Parenthood is an organization that is losing support all across the nation and the action in Virginia sends a clear message that Virginians want nothing to do with Planned Parenthood."
CONTACT: Jim Sedlak
540-907-5827/
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Released 28 Feb 08