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For Immediate Release
Contact: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906

NOW's Message to Paul Ryan--Don't Mess With Texas Justice!

Statement of NOW President Terry O'Neill

WASHINGTON

Republicans in Congress thought the fix was in when Texas' Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick asked a Rick Perry-appointed District Attorney to open a criminal investigation into Planned Parenthood, following the release of undercover videos concocted to spread malicious lies about the organization.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives used the videos and the anticipation of grand jury action against Planned Parenthood as a springboard for a roster of hearings designed to smear the organization and prevent them from providing contraceptive services and life-saving reproductive health care.

The violence-inciting rhetoric used by Republican leaders in the House pushed the debate over abortion past all reason and beyond the rule of law. A direct line can be drawn from the credence given to malicious lies about Planned Parenthood and the murderous rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, CO, last November. The suspect in that case used the phrase "no more baby parts" to explain his actions.

Now that Planned Parenthood has been cleared, and criminal charges have been filed instead against the anti-abortion activists who lied about their activities, Paul Ryan and the Republican leaders of Congress need to recognize that their case against Planned Parenthood is based on a tissue of lies, dreamed up by a shady bunch of accused criminals.

NOW calls on Speaker Paul Ryan to disband the so-called Select Investigative Panel designed to undermine Planned Parenthood, or redirect it to focus on anti-abortion violence. If a Republican D.A. and a Texas grand jury can see through the lies and manipulation that characterize these attacks against Planned Parenthood, why can't Congress?

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.