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Rep. Diane Black, R-TN, and Lila Rose, President and Founder of Live Action, stand in front of the U.S. Capitol with other members of Congress.Claire Chretien / LifeSiteNews

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 3, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – A dozen members of Congress say Live Action's latest investigation shows why Planned Parenthood must be defunded.

Live Action's newest investigative series, titled “Abortion Corporation,” highlights Planned Parenthood's unwillingness to provide basic women's health services. In addition to undercover footage, it features interviews with former Planned Parenthood managers explaining the company's abortion-centered agenda

At a press conference Thursday, Rep. Diane Black, R-TN said the videos show there is an “urgent need to invest in women's healthcare over abortion by defunding Planned Parenthood.” Black has been a nurse for 40 years. 

“As we see in these investigative videos recorded by Live Action, Planned Parenthood is not about preventative healthcare,” Black continued. “This is an abortion enterprise.”

“In one video, we see 92 separate Planned Parenthood clinics turning away women who are searching for prenatal care while a separate video shows 65 Planned Parenthood centers refusing pregnant women the opportunity to view an ultrasound,” said Black.

Live Action President and Founder Lila Rose said Planned Parenthood uses ultrasounds “as a weapon” for the “search and destroy mission that is abortion.” Only three of 68 of the Planned Parenthoods at which Live Action investigators sought ultrasounds were able to do them separately from abortions.

Black said this shouldn't be surprising given Planned Parenthood's “own annual report tells us” that they commit more than 320,000 abortions annually while receiving more than half a billion dollars of taxpayer money.

While Planned Parenthood does more than 30 percent of abortions in America, its own annual report admits the company only does two percent of women's cancer screenings and zero mammograms.

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Planned Parenthood provides over 30% of abortions in America - but a very small fraction of cancer screenings and non-violent women's health services.

Women will have access to a “better standard of care” through federally qualified health centers when Planned Parenthood is defunded through the reconciliation process, a fast-tracked upcoming federal budget bill, said Black.

“Abortion is not healthcare. Abortion kills children and hurts women,” Rep. Ann Wagner, R-MO, said. “Taxpayer money may not be allowed to directly fund abortions, but taxpayers do fund nearly half of the budget of the organization that commits the most abortions in America.”

Wagner called Planned Parenthood the “largest killer of children in the United States of America,” but “thanks to the new Live Action videos,” the abortion industry's singular focus has been revealed.

“Congress has a sincere duty to not only defund big abortion but to radically change the conversation around life – life from conception until natural death,” said Wagner. She said she looks forward to the passage of the Conscience Protection Act, which prevents doctors from being forced to commit abortions, and the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which bans late-term abortions.

The notion that Planned Parenthood is an “essential” women's healthcare provider is the “biggest sham that exists today,” said Rose. “The reality” is Planned Parenthood's “focus for pregnant women is abortion. It's not prenatal care, it's not serving young mothers…it's abortion, which is a cash cow for many of their facilities.”

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Reps. Diane Black, Ann Wagner, and Vicky Hartzler.

Abortion is not a solution to problems, said Rose, as Planned Parenthood presents it. 

“Abortion kills an innocent human life who has human rights like you and I do and it also turns a mother against her own flesh and blood and it deeply wounds a mother, a family, our country,” said Rose. “So many lives are at stake.”

“I can think of no organization in the recent history of the world that has deceived the world more than Planned Parenthood,” said Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ, noting that Planned Parenthood CEO claims defunding the corporation would cut essential services to women like prenatal care. The newest Live Action videos have “completely exploded this ridiculous lie,” he said. “Every American should see this video.”

Another disturbing fact about Planned Parenthood, Franks said, is “they want to sell the body parts of these little children after they've murdered them.”

Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler, New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, Iowa Rep. Steve King, and Georgia Rep. Jody Hice were among the other members of Congress who attended.

“We will not stop fighting,” Wagner promised.