(LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of the Department of Labor once worked at Planned Parenthood.
LifeSiteNews spoke to two independent sources on Wednesday afternoon who confirmed that Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s questionnaire showed she worked at Planned Parenthood briefly.
Chavez-DeRemer worked at the front desk of a Planned Parenthood in Fresno, helping schedule appointments, according to a source familiar with disclosures she filed with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee.
She worked there briefly starting in 1989. NBC News reports that she worked there from January 1989 to May 1990.
The former Oregon congresswoman has distanced herself from her former employment, according to a statement she gave the Senate Committee.
“This brief, part-time job from over three decades [ago] has no bearing on my support for implementing President Trump’s pro-life agenda. … During my time in the House I had a 100% pro-life voting record,” Chavez-DeRemer wrote, according to NBC News. “I personally do not support abortion, and if confirmed, I would not use my position as Secretary to facilitate abortion access in Labor Department programs. My job will be to implement President Trump’s agenda.”
However, Chavez-DeRemer has also spoken out against federal protections for unborn children and in favor of embryo-destroying in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
“I’m never pro-choice enough for the left,” she said during a debate in 2024, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle. “I’m never pro-life enough for the right. (I’m) where most Americans are. They have said they want access, I will not break that promise, and I will protect their access to abortion.”
READ: IVF has serious emotional consequences for parents and everyone else involved
Chavez-DeRemer has a generally pro-life record, according to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, though the group raised some concerns. They graded her a “B” based on her one term in Congress.
“While Congresswoman Chavez DeRemer’s voting record is pro-life, disappointingly, she has also publicly opposed passage of bills that would permanently stop taxpayer funding of abortion across the federal government and stop the Biden-Harris administration’s dangerous and illegal mail order abortion drugs policy,” the pro-life group wrote in its analysis of her voting record during the last congressional session.
She has earned the endorsement of a pro-IVF group called the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The group praised the congresswoman for co-sponsoring legislation that “would mandate coverage of fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization.”
The ASRM noted that Trump has promised to mandate IVF in insurance coverage, writing:
For this reason [her support for mandated IVF], we are thrilled to support Ms. Chavez-DeRemer as she appears before the committee. If confirmed, we are confident that Ms. Chavez-DeRemer will be a strategic partner to President Donald Trump in making good on his promise to mandate that insurance companies pay for IVF. As the leader in the advancement of reproductive medicine through evidence-based ethical practice, education, research, and advocacy, ASRM stands by ready to work with President Trump, his confirmed cabinet secretaries, and Congress to achieve this vision.
In August last year, Trump announced that, if elected, “your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment (sic), fertilization for women.”
A LifeSiteNews analysis found that free IVF could lead the to the intentional destruction of 2.4 million embryonic human children.
The nominee’s hearing was delayed yesterday due to snow and will be rescheduled for next Wednesday, February 19.
It has been speculated by media outlets that Trump selected Chavez-DeRemer because of her pro-union stance, as the president aggressively sought to win over union workers and other blue-collar Americans. The local Teamsters union endorsed her re-election bid in 2024, and the national union has supported her nomination for Labor Secretary.
Meanwhile, the editorial board of the National Review has come out against Chavez-DeRemer. Republican Senator Rand Paul also said he will vote against her, but suggested she may pick up more Democrat votes.
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