Today, Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia vetoed a bill, HB1090, that would have stopped state contracts with abortion giant Planned Parenthood. In a particularly ostentatious move, the governor traveled to a Planned Parenthood in Richmond to sign his veto.
The Virginian Pilot reports that he spoke to “a group of Planned Parenthood patients, board members and staff,” telling them he was “very proud to veto” the bill. The governor’s actions indicate that he considers Planned Parenthood his chief constituent, rather than the voters of Virginia.
According to the Pilot, “The bill would have stopped the Department of Health from entering into a contract with or making a grant to an entity, other than a hospital, that performs abortions outside of those done in cases of rape, incest or a fetal deformity.” However, McAuliffe’s veto statement make it clear that he wants to continue the state’s relationship with Planned Parenthood, despite the abortions they commit each year throughout Virginia.
The governor asserted, in his statement, that Virginia needs to care for the health of its low-income citizens:
This bill, aimed at Planned Parenthood, would harm tens of thousands of Virginians who rely on the health care services and programs provided by Planned Parenthood health centers by denying them access to affordable care. The fact is that Virginians, and particularly low-income Virginians, need more access to health care, not less.
When speaking in front of Planned Parenthood, McAuliffe specifically mentioned 500 STD tests performed by Planned Parenthood each year as a necessary service that would supposedly be lost. Perhaps the governor would do well to pay attention to what his own state’s health offices do for his citizens’ health. The Health Department in Fairfax County alone offers free STD testing at five different locations. The state Health Department itself advertises free HIV testing at 32 Walgreens locations across Virginia, proving that Planned Parenthood’s (not-free) STD testing is hardly vital.
Additionally, Planned Parenthood’s 500 STD tests per year cover only 0.006% of the state’s 8.236 million citizen’s – barely worth mentioning – especially when there are 25 other health care clinics in Virginia for every one Planned Parenthood. These health care clinics provide comprehensive health care for low-income women and their families all across the state, as the map below shows. Planned Parenthood, on the other hand, largely ignores multiple geographic areas of Virginia.
Across the nation, Planned Parenthood’s health services – including cancer screening and prevention services – continue to drop while its abortion numbers increase. Yet Gov. McAuliffe is perfectly fine with being a personal arm of the abortion industry. The Family Foundation of Virginia’s President, Victoria Cobb, commented that the governor’s veto can apparently be bought for “right around $2 million in campaign contributions,” the amount McAuliffe has received from the abortion lobby.
