The anti-abortion activist group LiveAction has teamed up with the conservative women’s group the Susan B. Anthony List for a bus tour in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. In response, Planned Parenthood has launched its own “truth tour” in support of women’s rights.
LiveAction leader Lila Rose and former Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R) teamed up for the “Women Speak Out: Defund Planned Parenthood” tour, which is scheduled to make eleven stops in seven states from March 7-10 — Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Iowa, where it stopped Monday morning.
The idea, according to the Susan B. Anthony List website, is to “thank Members of Congress who stood up for women, young girls and taxpayers with their votes for Rep. Mike Pence’s (R-IN) amendment to deny all taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood through September. The campaign will also visit the districts of representatives who voted against the amendment.”
In response, Planned Parenthood launched a “truth tour” in a number of the same cities, on the same days. A statement on their website explains:
The anti-women’s health extremists behind the push to bar Planned Parenthood health centers from federal funding are showing up in communities across the country March 7-10. The Planned Parenthood Truth Team — staff, patients, and supporters — are there to counter their lies with the truth and to demonstrate just how much support we have in communities and online.
As TPM has reported, LiveAction and Planned Parenthood have been at odds recently, after LiveAction conducted a “sting” operation in a number of Planned Parenthood facilities across the country, which they said was an effort to catch employees looking the other way on sex trafficking.
