The Florida Family Policy Council has launched a campaign to defund Planned Parenthood in the state.
In an interview with The Daily signal, John Stemberger, the president and general counsel for the Florida Family Policy Council, said that the statewide campaign is an effort to call on Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to fully defund Planned Parenthood in the state and to redirect the funds it currently receives to the 636 federally qualified community health centers in Florida.
“It’s a no-brainer to disqualify Planned Parenthood from taxpayer funds,” Stemberger said. “They should be morally disqualified from receiving public funds.”
Stemberger said Scott should terminate both Florida’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood and Title X funds to the organization.
“We’re asking him to reprioritize the community health centers. They’re more evenly distributed throughout the state and provide easier access for women.”
The Obama administration has threatened states that have terminated their Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood with litigation. Stemberger said that shouldn’t concern the governor.
“He’s faced threats before, and it hasn’t fazed him,” Stemberger said. “We’re asking him to lead on this issue as he has on other issues.”
In a statement, Laura Goodhue, the executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said the Florida Family Policy Council was making “false accusations against Planned Parenthood to back up their call for Gov. Scott to further restrict Florida women’s access to health care.”
Asked for comment, Scott’s office sent this statement from Scott:
The videos about Planned Parenthood are awful. As someone who is pro-life and a father and a grandfather, I believe we must not tolerate any gross disregard for human life. We took aggressive, immediate action to investigate Planned Parenthood offices in Florida when the horrific videos were released. When we found that some of their facilities were not complying with state law, we held them accountable.