Planned Parenthood officially endorsed Joe Biden for president on Monday, saying women who need “safe and legal abortion[s]” cannot afford four more years of President Trump.
The endorsement was made in a two-minute video by Planned Parenthood Action Fund featuring acting president Alexis McGill Johnson. Biden also appeared in the video, saying he “will protect women's constitutional right to choose.”
“I'm proud to stand with you in this fight,” Biden said.
Johnson told National Public Radio “this is literally a life and death election.”
“We felt like we can't endure another four years of Trump; we have to do everything we can to get him out of office,” Johnson said.
In the video, Johnson applauded Biden’s record while criticizing that of Trump.
“Americans need a president who will empower women, families and young people,” she said in the video. “When Joe Biden was vice president, more people got insurance coverage than ever. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, birth control, STI testing [and] cancer screenings were all covered.”
Trump, Johnson said, “has tried to tear down our progress, making it harder to access birth control, sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, blocking access to care and Planned Parenthood, appointing a record number of judges opposed to reproductive rights.”
“The last four years, our most fundamental rights, and our health, have been under attack,” Johnson said.
Biden called healthcare a “right” that’s “not dependent on race, gender, income or zip code.”
“As president I'm going to do everything in my power to expand access to quality, affordable health care for women, especially women of color,” Biden said. “Together we're going to reverse the global gag and domestic gag rule, restoring the Title 10 program. We will protect women's constitutional right to choose. I'm proud to stand with you in this fight.”
The so-called “global gag” rule – labeled the Mexico City Policy by pro-lifers – requires international organizations that receive federal funds to agree not to perform or promote abortion. Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy after taking office.
The “domestic gag rule,” which pro-lifers call the “Protect Life Rule,” prohibits federal Title X funds from being used to perform, promote, refer for, or support abortion as a method of family planning. It also requires Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to financially and physically separate their abortion services from their non-abortion services. The Trump administration began enforcing the policy in 2019. Planned Parenthood is losing an estimated $60 million annually because it refuses to follow the policy.
Johnson’s “life and death” comment was widely panned on social media.
“You have to give it to Planned Parenthood,” tweeted writer and author Billy Hallowell. “I have yet to see an organization more detached from the reality and meaning of its own bizarre proclamations. Yes, PP, it is certainly a life or death election for hundreds of thousands of unborn babies.”
You have to give it to Planned Parenthood. I have yet to see an organization more detached from the reality and meaning of its own bizarre proclamations.
— Billy Hallowell (@BillyHallowell) June 16, 2020
Yes, PP, it is certainly a life or death election for hundreds of thousands of unborn babies. https://t.co/iG6N6niYkj
Related:
Trump Admin. Begins Defunding $60 Million from Planned Parenthood
5 Things Christians Should Know about the Faith of Joe Biden
Joe Biden Denied Communion by S.C. Priest over Abortion Advocacy
Sworn Depositions Lead to More Questions in Planned Parenthood Fetal Tissue Sale Case
Planned Parenthood Affiliates Receive $80 Million in COVID-19 Stimulus Funds, despite Ineligibility
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Rick Loomis/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
