{"id":62858,"date":"2018-04-12T06:13:50","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T06:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=62858"},"modified":"2018-04-12T06:13:50","modified_gmt":"2018-04-12T06:13:50","slug":"trump-court-pick-thinks-planned-parenthood-kills-over-150000-females-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/trump-court-pick-thinks-planned-parenthood-kills-over-150000-females-a-year.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump Court Pick Thinks Planned Parenthood ‘Kills Over 150,000 Females A Year’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump Court Pick Thinks Planned Parenthood ‘Kills Over 150,000 Females A Year’<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

One of President Donald Trump\u2019s judicial nominees, Wendy Vitter, repeatedly avoided answering a simple question in her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday: Do you believe Planned Parenthood kills more than 150,000 women every year?<\/span><\/p>\n

Vitter, a New Orleans lawyer and Trump\u2019s choice for a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, made that claim in a May 2013 speech in protest of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in New Orleans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlanned Parenthood says they promote women\u2019s health,\u201d Vitter said at the time, per New Orleans\u2019 Clarion Herald. \u201cIt is the saddest of ironies that they kill over 150,000 females a year. The first step in promoting women\u2019s health is to let them live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vitter acknowledged in Wednesday\u2019s hearing that her past comment was a reference to aborted fetuses that were females. But when Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked her if she stands by that claim, she avoided answering over and over again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSenator, I don\u2019t recall the exact context\u201d of the comment, Vitter said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s been recalled to you,\u201d Blumenthal said, \u201cbut I\u2019ll read you the full statement if you like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After he read her comments aloud, Vitter said she did indeed remember making them. So Blumenthal, a vocal advocate of abortion rights, asked again if she stands by her claim that Planned Parenthood kills 150,000 women every year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am pro-life. I will set aside my religious or my personal views,\u201d Vitter said. \u201cMy personal views in this role, I need to a make a conscious effort and will do so to set this aside\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Blumenthal cut her off. \u201cI\u2019m really not asking you about setting aside personal views,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m asking you, very simply, you said Planned Parenthood kills 150,000 females a year. 150,000 people. Do you stand by that statement? It\u2019s a yes or no.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSenator, I feel, again, my pro-life stance has been very clear,\u201d she replied. \u201cI have been very upfront with this committee about my views and about how serious I take it, and that I would set aside any personal or religious views if I were to be confirmed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising that a Trump court nominee would be anti-abortion; lots of them have been. And Vitter, who is general counsel of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and is married to conservative former Sen. David Vitter (R), has been pretty open about her views on reproductive health.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s odd is that she refused to say if she still believes something she said very publicly and recently. It\u2019s also odd because Vitter didn\u2019t initially disclose that speech to the Senate committee, along with a bunch of other anti-abortion speeches she\u2019d given. She also didn\u2019t disclose that she moderated a panel peddling false information about the dangers of abortion. Vice News uncovered these missing materials last month, which were then turned over to the committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big no-no to senators, who expect a thorough submission of background materials for judicial nominees. It also creates the appearance, at least, of Vitter not wanting the committee to know about some of her controversial comments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) asked Vitter directly if she omitted those materials \u201cbecause they would cause you to face difficult questions, like the ones I\u2019m asking, about your judgment and temperament at this confirmation hearing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vitter said it was \u201calways my intent\u201d to be forthcoming and that the omissions were inadvertent. She repeated that she would keep her personal views separate from her job as a federal judge if she\u2019s confirmed, just as she did in her role as a former assistant district attorney in Louisiana.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hirono seemed skeptical.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExcept that you will now be a judge with a lifetime appointment,\u201d said the Democratic senator. \u201cThat is a very different role than being a prosecutor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vitter now awaits a committee vote, which could come in a matter of weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.in\/entry\/wendy-vitter-abortion-judge-trump_us_5ace68cfe4b06487677655eb<\/span><\/p>\n

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