Politics

Planned Parenthood President Blames American Support For Abortion Safety Requirements On A ‘Campaign Of Misinformation’

No featured image available

Acting Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson said Thursday that American support for abortion safety requirements is due to a “campaign of misinformation” about abortion access.

McGill Johnson spoke on “CBS This Morning” regarding June Medical Services v. Russo, a Supreme Court case in which an abortion provider is challenging a 2014 Louisiana state law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges in a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion facility.

Opponents, including Planned Parenthood, say the law would hinder and potentially eliminate abortion access in Louisiana. Louisiana lawmakers and pro-life activists maintain that the law protects women from unsanitary or unsafe abortion clinic practices.

McGill Johnson noted that the law is “essentially an attempt to essentially undercut access to abortion” and said that if the Supreme Court upholds the Louisiana law, the state will be left with one doctor and one clinic with admitting privileges.

One of the “CBS This Morning” hosts referenced Kaiser Family Foundation polling and questioned whether Planned Parenthood and McGill Johnson are out of line with American sentiment on this topic.

“So there was a recent poll by Kaiser that found the majority of Americans, in fact 69% of Americans, support the idea of doctors having admitting privileges if they are going to be doing abortions,” he said. “Is this a case where public opinion is out of line with the law, is that how you view it, or are you guys out of line with public opinion?”

McGill Johnson responded by blaming these poll numbers on a “campaign of misinformation” and noting that 77% of Americans believe Roe v. Wade should “be the law of the land.”

“With respect to admitting privileges, doctors are credentialed,” she added. “They’re credentialed by their medical schools, they’re credentialed by the licenses that they get from the states that they practice in.”

“So I think a lot of that polling, to me suggests that there has been a campaign of misinformation, disinformation, around what it means to access abortion,” she said, adding, “It is one of the safest medical procedures there is.”

“Well, you would call it safe, some people would call it murder,” one of the hosts asked her.

“Well for the patient, I think that is what we are talking about,” the Planned Parenthood president responded. “And this was brought up yesterday. There are moral arguments with respect to accessing abortion but it is the law of the land that a woman seeking abortion has the right to have access to one.”

Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation as to what McGill Johnson meant by a “campaign of misinformation.”