Clinton comes out in defense of Planned Parenthood

Hillary Clinton on Thursday came out in defense of Planned Parenthood for the first time since the organization got swept up in a scandal involving videos that allege it sells fetal tissue.

“Planned Parenthood has apologized for the insensitivity of the employee who was taped, and they will continue to answer questions for Congress and others,” Clinton said during a campaign stop in South Carolina.


The controversy has riled up congressional Republicans, who are now trying to strip the non-profit of federal funding.

Clinton emphasized that the organization offers essential services for women, “not just reproductive health services, including access to affordable family planning, but cancer screenings and other health check-ups.”

“It is unfortunate that Planned Parenthood has been the object of such a concerted attack for so many years,” she said, “and it’s really an attack against a woman’s right to choose, to make the most personal difficult decisions that any woman would face.”

Republicans, especially presidential candidate Scott Walker, have pressured Clinton on the issue in recent days, but she had stayed silent on the controversy until she was asked about it during a question-and-answer session on Thursday.

Also for the first time on Thursday, Clinton directly articulated her feelings about running as a woman this election, saying she finds the country more prepared to elect a woman than it was eight years ago.

“It was exciting and it was daunting,” she said of her first presidential campaign. “Other women had done it, but not in recent times, and not as perhaps as serious and well-funded a campaign as I was able to put together. I knew that I really had a lot to prove because people had to think that a woman could be President — we’d never had one before. And I think this time, it seems easier, that people are much more open.”

In 2007, Clinton often said on the trail that she was “not running as a woman,” but “because I believe I am the best-qualified and experienced person.”

On Thursday, she gave her updated 2016 version of the same statement, demonstrating the new focus on her gender in her campaign. “I don’t want you to vote for me just because I’m a woman,” she said, “I want you to vote for me on my merits, but one of my merits is that I’m a woman.”

Clinton, who has also for the most part avoided foreign policy on the campaign trail, was asked whether a two-state solution was still possible in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “I believe it’s the only resolution that will work,” she said. “I think there has to be a negotiated settlement.”

She recalled bringing together prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for three face-to-face meetings, when she was Secretary of State. “Each side has very high priorities, and the highest for Israel is security, and the highest for the Palestinians is autonomy and independence,” she said. “Somehow you’ve got to work to make those two fit together.”

She also noted that the Obama administration has not brought the two sides together for any face-to-face meetings since she served as Secretary of State. “We have to go back to that,” she said. “There is no alternative. It is the best outcome for both Israelis and Palestinians in the region.”