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WASHINGTON (AP) — Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards says she respects the religious beliefs of Americans who oppose abortion, but is glad that her organization can help women who want to terminate their pregnancies.
At a congressional hearing on taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, North Carolina Congressman Mark Walker said that as a former pastor, he had counseled women who regret their abortions as long as 25 years later.
Richards said she recognizes that people's views on abortion sometimes change over time.
Oklahoma Republican Steve Russell, referring to the donation of fetal tissue from abortions, said: "We can carve up a child and call it a choice." But he added, "We cannot escape our accountability before the creator of life."
Most Democrats have rallied behind Planned Parenthood, and President Barack Obama has threatened to veto GOP legislation cutting its federal money. The group provides contraception, sexual disease testing and cancer screenings, as well as abortions, to 2.7 million patients annually in clinics from coast to coast.
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