Trump: Praising Planned Parenthood is “just doing what’s right”

In a press conference during the Super Tuesday primary elections Tuesday night, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump yet again defended Planned Parenthood as a vital asset to women’s health.

A reporter asked whether Trump’s repeated praise for the abortion giant was an example of “trying to adjust [his] tone to a more general election message.” The candidate responded, “I’m just doing what’s right.”

“Look, Planned Parenthood has done very good work for some, for many, many, for millions of women, and I’ll say it,” Trump said. “And I know a lot of the so-called conservatives are, they say that’s really – ’cause I’m a conservative. But I’m a common-sense conservative. But millions of women have been helped by Planned Parenthood.”

He went on to insist that “we’re not gonna fund, as long as you have the abortion going on at Planned Parenthood,” but pivoted back to his praise for the organization’s non-abortion services, claiming that “I’ve had thousands of letters from women that have been helped.” He concluded by declaring his complements are a sign that “I’m going to be good for women’s health issues. It’s very important to me.”

Trump’s pro-Planned Parenthood remarks have been a controversial recurring theme on the campaign trail. But as Live Action News’s Kristi Burton Brown detailed on February 27, the organization’s breast and cervical cancer screenings serve less than 2% of reproductive-age women in the United States, and it has been involved in a wide variety of scandals over the years, calling into question the care and truthfulness it offers women. Planned Parenthood’s cancer and prenatal care also declined by 41% between 2009 and 2013.

On Tuesday night, Trump won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia; while Ted Cruz won Alaska, Oklahoma, Texas and Marco Rubio won Minnesota. Trump currently holds a lead in delegates for the nomination at 316, with Cruz in second at 226 and Rubio third at 106.