Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra recently paid a visit to a New Hampshire Planned Parenthood clinic to tout the Biden administration’s “unwavering support” for taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand, which he had already proven by delivering $500,000 to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) after a Granite State body denied it and other abortion providers $1 million in taxpayer cash.
In January, the Republican-dominated New Hampshire Executive Council (NHEC) rejected $1-million worth of state “family planning” contracts with health clinics that also perform abortions, among them PPNNE. A 2021 state law prohibits the government from “subsidiz[ing] abortions, either directly or indirectly,” and there is no way for the state to give money to an abortion provider, even for other purposes, without funding abortions.
The Biden administration immediately rode to Planned Parenthood’s rescue, providing it with a half-million-dollar “dire needs” grant. This should come as no surprise given the administration’s “consistent support for protecting access to safe and legal abortion,” as HHS put it in a press release, not to mention that, according to Newsweek, Planned Parenthood spent a “record-breaking” $45 million to get Joe Biden into the White House and then “recommended nearly 200 people for key positions” in his administration.
“We’ve got your back,” Becerra said during his March 4 appearance at the Manchester, New Hampshire, Planned Parenthood clinic. “And there have been some challenging times. I don’t think they’re over, but you hung in there, and we hope to make a commitment to you that we’re not going to leave.”
After touring the facility, Becerra led a roundtable discussion with New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, all of whom are pro-abortion Democrats.
According to WMUR, “The delegation voiced disappointment in the loss of the bipartisan pro-choice consensus that held sway at the State House from Roe vs. Wade until recent years.”
In fact, in a press release from Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), every one of them described the NHEC’s decision and efforts in other states to restrict abortion as “partisan” — as if Democrats weren’t almost uniformly in favor of unrestricted abortion at taxpayer expense.
“As Republicans from Mississippi to New Hampshire wage an all-out assault on women’s reproductive care, it is critical to stand up for women’s health and provide federal support to ensure family planning providers like Planned Parenthood … can meet the urgent needs in our communities,” said Shaheen. “It’s shameful that partisan politics are compromising women’s access to safe and affordable healthcare — something I never thought I would see in the ‘Live Free or Die’ state.”
“As partisan politicians in New Hampshire and across the country seek to undermine women’s access to healthcare, I will continue working with the delegation and advocates across our state to protect women’s reproductive freedom,” said Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).
Representative Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) joined the chorus: “It could not be more important that we fight to protect the right to safe, legal, and accessible abortions and family planning services that have come under continued partisan attack across the country and here in New Hampshire.”
Abortion isn’t the only reason the Biden administration wants to help Planned Parenthood. The nation’s largest abortion provider is also its second-largest dispenser of hormones intended to turn males into females — to the extent that is possible — and vice versa. That likely explains the presence of Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel (nee Richard) Levine at Becerra’s appearance. Moreover, in Shaheen’s press release, Becerra referred to “attacks on abortion and gender-affirming care.”
Similarly, Kayla Montgomery, vice president of public affairs for PPNNE, said in the press release that her organization was “grateful for the dedication and leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration and New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, who work tirelessly to ensure continued access to the full range of reproductive health care — including safe, legal abortion and gender affirming care — no matter what.”
“We are in a crisis moment,” she asserted in Manchester. “We know that the Supreme Court is going to make a ruling soon that could possibly decimate abortion access in this country. We know that when that happens, 26 states could move immediately, or soon, to ban abortion.”
And that, of course, would mean the end — or at least the serious downsizing — of Planned Parenthood.
