‘Pushed Into Pregnancy’: Planned Parenthood Witness, Dem Rep Claim Natural Disasters Warrant Abortion

‘Pushed Into Pregnancy’: Planned Parenthood Witness, Dem Rep Claim Natural Disasters Warrant Abortion

Harold Hutchison on September 29, 2022

Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Dr. Bhavik Kumar, medical director for primary and trans care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, claimed Thursday that natural disasters like Hurricane Ian show why there should be no time limits on abortion.

“What I’m hearing you say is that if you have this 15-week abortion ban, and you have all these people who already are lacking maternal health care, and of course, access to reproductive health care, that they were — they’re likely going to go past that 15-week mark, and then they get pushed into pregnancy, whether — whether or not they like it,” Krishnamoorthi said. “Now, tell me — walk us through why that relates — results in death?”

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Krishnamoorthi claimed that a ban on most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy would increase pregnancy-related deaths, particularly among black women.

“I just want to turn your attention to this 15-week nationwide abortion ban, which Sen. Lindsey Graham first talked about, but it turns out on June 24 of this year, Mr. McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, actually said he supported that,” Krishnamoorthi said. “So this is not some kind of a — an abstract concept. It’s very clear that if Mr. McCarthy were to somehow become Speaker of the House, he would put the 15-week abortion ban on the floor, and it would likely pass if it had a majority of Republicans supporting it, which it currently does.”

Kumar claimed a ban on abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy would harm women with medical conditions, including those struggling with mental health, particularly when a natural disaster struck.

“When we look at today’s landscape of abortion access, when we talk about a 15-week ban, we can look at Florida, for example, what’s happening today with the natural disaster Hurricane Ian. As that state has a 15-week ban, and we think about what’s happening to families, what’s happening to their homes, folks that may be 13-weeks pregnant, or even 10-weeks pregnant, let’s say deal with the things that they’re having to deal with in their life, they’re being pushed further and further into pregnancy,” Kumar said. “When we look at the landscape around accessing abortion and the limited number of clinics that are still available in haven states, and how long people are waiting, sometimes several weeks, that’s also pushing them further into pregnancy. So these impacts are always felt disproportionately by people of color, especially low income folks, and also black folks.”

“I was going to say that I find it bewildering. And actually, I’m flabbergasted at the fact that we have 17 states with abortion bans. And we’re here to talk about what’s going on in Texas,” Kumar said at the start of Krishnamoorthi’s questioning. “And I was very surprised to hear a question about Margaret Sanger. I also want to say that at Planned Parenthood we do not stand for racism. We’re happy to serve our clients that are black and brown and we’re actually proud to do that.”

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, held many racist views and made statements disparaging some minorities, including saying that Australian aboriginals were “the lowest known species of the human family” and also stated that she didn’t want “the word to go out” that she sought “to exterminate the Negro population.”

The Supreme Court upheld Mississippi’s law banning most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy in a 6-3 ruling authored by Justice Samuel Alito that overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.