Blumenthal, Women’s Health Advocates Stand with Planned Parenthood Following Sustained, Partisan Attacks

(Hartford, CT) – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and women’s health advocates stood in support of Planned Parenthood and the right to choice following sustained partisan attacks that have threatened to shut down the government and compromise the care of tens of thousands of Connecticut women.

The Senate yesterday narrowly defeated a vote that would have defunded Planned Parenthood—the latest in what is expected to be a series of Republican-led attacks on women’s health in the coming weeks.

These attacks on Planned Parenthood directly threaten the health of tens of thousands of Connecticut women. Each year, 64,000 Connecticut women visit the 17 Planned Parenthood centers around the state, where they collectively receive more than 80,000 tests for sexually transmitted infections, more than 8,000 Pap tests and more than 3,000 breast cancer screenings.

Throughout his career, Blumenthal has fought vigorously to protect access to critical women's health services. As Senator, Blumenthal introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act, a landmark piece of legislation intended to keep politicians out of personal health care decisions. The Women’s Health Protection Act creates federal protections against state restrictions that fail to protect women’s health and intrude upon personal, medical decision-making. It promotes and protects a woman’s individual constitutional rights, no matter where she lives.

Earlier this week, Senator Blumenthal voted against another Republican bill to restrict women’s access to health care. Watch Senator Blumenthal’s floor speech here.   

“The Republican Party has aligned itself with the most extreme of the anti-choice movement, threatening the operations of the federal government and the health of millions of women nationwide and tens of thousands in Connecticut who depend on Planned Parenthood for basic health care screenings, cancer diagnoses, family planning and contraception. Politicians have no role in a woman’s deeply personal health care decisions, and such interference is a dangerous disgrace. I stand with Planned Parenthood and the women of Connecticut against these partisan attacks, and will continue to vocally and vehemently support a woman’s right to choice in the most personal of health care decisions,” Blumenthal said.

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