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NEW YORK, NY, November 19, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Monday night, Hollywood and New York celebrities held a telethon that raised a reported $50,000 to help women in Texas travel to get abortions. The fundraiser was hosted by controversial comedian Sarah Silverman and “The Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead.

The fundraiser, which benefited Lilith Fund, TEA Fund, Whole Women’s Action Fund, and Fund Texas Women, was held in response to Texas’ recent law, HB2, which medical standards for abortion clinics. The law requires all doctors at abortion clinics in the state to have “admitting privileges” at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic. Clinics must also meet the same safety standards as other outpatient surgical facilities.

As many as one-third of Texas’ abortion clinics could be shut down because of the law. On the day the law went into effect, 16 abortion clinics ceased offering abortions, according to Operation Rescue.

During the raunchy live-streamed event and telethon Silverman auctioned off a napkin she had placed on her vagina, while one attendee dressed as a vulva on stage. The fundraiser was entitled “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can Choose.”

During an appearance on MSNBC Monday, Silverman told host Chris Hayes that she thinks “vaginas really, really scare people, honestly.” 

“I believe in a woman’s right to choose,” Silverman told Hayes. “Very quietly, our rights are being chipped away, state by state, sometimes more loudly than others.” 

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Salon.com editor-at-large Joan Walsh was at the fundraiser, and beforehand wrote that this event was about “show[ing] the right they don’t own women, or our ladyparts…” Walsh was a prominent promoter of the “War on Women” meme that helped propel at least two Democratic candidates for Senate, one Democratic candidate in the House, and President Obama to victory in the 2012 elections.

Abortion clinics in Texas have faced a difficult year even outside of HB2; this summer, Planned Parenthood agreed to pay $4.3 million for medical fraud allegedly committed by local affiliates from 2003 to 2009. The money is going to reimburse both the Texas and U.S. federal governments.

LifeSiteNews.com reached out to Silverman, Walsh, Winstead, and political pundit Sally Kohn on Twitter to clarify why the fundraiser focused on helping women travel to get abortions rather than assist with training abortionists to meet the medical standards of HB2. As of press time, no response had been received.