White House assails move to defund Planned Parenthood

by Jordan Fabian - 07/30/15 1:46 PM ET

President Obama opposes Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in the wake of damaging videos exposing its fetal tissue donation program.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest stopped short of issuing a formal veto threat against the legislation, but he said “on balance, the president would not be supportive of such congressional action.”

“This is a tactic we have seen used before,” Earnest said of the GOP legislation. “The president obviously does not support that ongoing effort.”

The spokesman accused Republicans of trying “to play some politics with some selectively edited videos” and said they were released in a “fraudulent way.”

Earnest’s comments came on the same day anti-abortion activists released a fourth undercover video detailing Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue donation program, containing the most gruesome footage to date of aborted fetuses.

Earnest also said he is not sure if President Obama has seen the videos, but added he is following the story in the news.

He had no specific comment on the footage, other than to suggest the footage was selectively edited.

Earnest said the” fraudulent way” the videos were released means there is “not a lot of evidence” Planned Parenthood violated their own standards and rules.

Asked how he knows the videos are fraudulent, Earnest said he was relying public statements made by Planned Parenthood.

Multiple bills have been introduced in Congress to defund the organization. One, introduced by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), is expected to receive a vote on Monday.