The day after Thanksgiving, a shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado left three dead and several injured. There have been four attacks on Planned Parenthood in the past four months, including a Washington clinic that was set on fire, and a California clinic that was fire-bombed.
What has Planned Parenthood done to receive these acts of terrorism?
Planned Parenthood has been under attack more heavily than usual from the GOP-- back in September there were threats of shutting the government down over funding the organization. With that in mind, it should be clear as to what motivated the attack on Planned Parenthood: extreme conservatism and false claims spread by the Republican party.
Yet a Fox News commentator, a right-wing network contributor, had the audacity to blame the shooting on President Obama…after Fox News had earlier tried to downplay the shooting, calling the attack a “bank robbery gone wrong” claiming the gunman fled to Planned Parenthood after attacking a Chase Bank. Meanwhile, police have confirmed that the entire incident took place at Planned Parenthood.
Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said in a statement that a possible cause for the shooting is that, "extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country.”
The shooting has left the nation puzzled as to how the issue should be addressed. Is it an issue of gun control? Or is it the result of the hateful rhetoric used by right wing party?
Republican presidential candidates Carly Fiorina, Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee have responded to the deadly shooting by reiterating the false claim that Planned Parenthood sells body parts. Bernie Sanders has thus far been the only presidential candidate to acknowledge that the shooting was most likely a consequence of the GOP’s hateful rhetoric.
The shooter himself told investigators that he has anti-abortion views and made remarks about “baby parts” as well.
It seems pretty clear what motivated the shooting to me. I would hope that this deadly shooting would inspire the GOP to tone down their attacks on Planned Parenthood, but so far that has yet to happen. If anything, this tragedy reminded us just how much the Republican party campaigns against women’s health.
