Instead of addressing Pennsylvania’s maternal mortality crisis or how to best ensure an equitable pandemic recovery, the House Health Committee in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is once again hosting what they are calling a “pro-life”/abortion hearing.
The word “hearing” is generous. As we watched false and inflammatory anti-abortion talking points repeatedly entered into the record, it’s become clear these events are little more than taxpayer-funded forums for amplifying anti-abortion propaganda distributed by national right-wing strategists.
In a gross abuse of power, the majority members invited David Daleiden to testify at the fourth in series of these events.
We joined fellow Pennsylvania advocates in sending a letter to members of the House Health Committee condemning this extremely dangerous spectacle.
We write to urge you to condemn the House Health Committee’s irresponsible and dangerous decision to use the power and resources of the legislature to disseminate politically motivated, false and malicious accusations about abortion providers and demonize medical research.
David Daleiden, who was invited to testify before the Health Committee on May 4, 2021, was at the center of a nationwide publicity campaign to destroy Planned Parenthood by falsely accusing them of trafficking in fetal tissue in heavily edited videos.
Daleiden’s campaign against abortion providers has been thoroughly debunked. Several Congressional committees and at least 13 states, including Pennsylvania, investigated the allegations Daleiden made against Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. No investigation, including Pennsylvania, found that Planned Parenthood broke any laws.
In November 2019, a federal jury found Daleiden had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and committed fraud, trespass, breach of contract, and other illegal acts, and awarded Planned Parenthood over $2 million in damages. He is now facing criminal charges arising from some of the same illegal conduct.
Despite being widely discredited, Daleiden’s campaign nonetheless stoked an increase in violence and threats against abortion providers, staff, and patients—including a 2015 shooting spree at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood where nine people were injured and three people were murdered.
The decision to invite the testimony of an anti-abortion operative whose dishonesty is a matter of record raises questions about the real purpose of these hearings.
Just this morning, Daleiden posted a statement announcing his invitation to testify before the Pennsylvania House Health Committee. The statement included a new propaganda video explicitly targeting health care facilities in western Pennsylvania with outlandish and clearly false accusations, and naming individual doctors, with their photographs.
As a result, staff at these healthcare facilities are already receiving harassment and threats, and the hearing hasn’t even happened yet.
Amid an escalated threat of domestic terrorism in the United States fueled in part by false narratives, and as we still grieve the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, we condemn the General Assembly’s decision to amplify dangerous propaganda targeting Pennsylvania abortion providers.
We urge you to condemn it as well.
Sincerely,
Women’s Law Project
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Pennsylvania
Sen. Judy Schwank, co-chair, Women’s Health Caucus
Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, co-chair, Women’s Health Caucus
National Organization for Women, Pennsylvania chapter
ACLU of Pennsylvania
Women’s Medical Fund
Planned Parenthood Keystone
Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition
Philadelphia Women’s Centers
Delaware County Women’s Centers
Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania
National Women’s Law Center
National Council of Jewish Women, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh United
SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania
Thomas Merton Center
UUJusticePA
PA Religous Coalition for Reproductive Justice
Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
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