A Republican senator has refused to back down over comments he made in a letter comparing Planned Parenthood with a Nazi concentration camp.

Steve Fitzgerald sent the letter after learning a donation had been made in his name to the pro-choice group and largest single provider of abortions and other women's health services in the US.

The senator, a strong opponent of abortions, said it was worse than "having one's name associated with Dachau".

"Shame on your organisation and shame on anyone that would attempt to blacken my name in this manner."

"Killing people equals killing people," he told The Kansas City Star.


"Planned Parenthood is killing more people than they did in Nazi Germany," he said.

The Nazis were responsible for the systematic murder of six million Jews, as well as homosexuals, Roma people and political opponents during the Second World War.

An estimated 32,000 people were killed at Dachau Nazi concentration camp.

The letter was posted on Twitter by a local Planned Parenthood group.

The donor, Ali Weinel, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri, was slammed by the politician for associating him with what he condemned as a "heinous" group.

She made the donation on his behalf about a month ago after a "frustrating" email exchange with Mr Fitzgerald, in which he expressed disgust over her views on abortion.

Such a move has become a tactic among some left-leaning activists.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains spokeswoman Bonyen Lee-Gilmore said: "We obviously condemn this extreme ideology."