FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2015

Contact: Ryan Hughes
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
703-739-5920

[email protected]

Reality Check (3 of 4): Reasons Florida Gov. Rick Scott Refuses to Defund Planned Parenthood

Claims Enforcement of the Law When Violations Found

TALLAHASSEE, FLToday, the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), led by President and General Counsel John Stemberger, released the third in a series of debunked claims made by Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) regarding his reasons for not cutting Florida taxpayers’ dollars to Planned Parenthood.

CLAIM
When violations of the law are found, he investigates and enforces the law.

“In a statement released by Scott’s office, he maintained that he took aggressive action to hold Planned Parenthood accountable to Florida law. ‘When we found that some of their (Planned Parenthood) facilities were not complying with state law, we held them accountable,’ Scott stated in the release.” – Brendan Farrington, Oct 1, 2015, Associated Press / Saint Peters Blog

REALITY
The job of any Governor is to enforce the law, and we appreciate Governor Scott for doing that.  Yet any Governor, regardless of whether they are pro-life or pro-abortion, should enforce the law and hold people accountable for violating it. This includes dutifully investigating serious allegations of misconduct, and Planned Parenthood has certainly had its fair share of allegations. Governor Scott’s statements that he will ensure healthcare clinics comply with the law are at odds with this fact. Hundreds of thousands of Floridians have worked for and elected the Governor who ran on a platform vowing he would defend life and protect the health and safety of women. Under Scott’s jurisdiction, however, Planned Parenthood in Florida and nationwide continues to avoid meaningful scrutiny despite waste, fraud and scandal.  We are simply asking Scott to do what six other states have done to defund Planned Parenthood from receiving our state taxpayer dollars.

Earlier this month, the FFPC launched a statewide campaign – consisting of sustained grassroots and media efforts – that is urging, and if necessary, demanding that Governor Scott entirely strip Planned Parenthood of all state public funding sources within his influence, particularly the Medicaid contract, which makes up a substantial portion of Planned Parenthood’s taxpayers’ support.

The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, is one of 38 other state based policy councils around the country which are associated with Focus on the Family. Many of these organizations are the leading pro-life, pro-family organizations in their respective states.

For more information or to arrange an interview with John Stemberger, please contact Ryan Hughes with Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at [email protected] or (703) 739-5920.

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