WASHINGTON -- The Republican presidential hopefuls in the runner-up debate Thursday evening competed with one another to see who could propose the most aggressive attack on Planned Parenthood.
Questions about Planned Parenthood were expected, given that Republicans have attempted to defund the group in the wake of several undercover sting videos alleging that the group sells fetal tissues for profit. Planned Parenthood has denied the allegations, saying that it sells tissues for research purposes and that the only costs associated with the transactions are for the processing and transfer of the tissues.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has frequently criticized President Barack Obama for allegedly using the IRS for political purposes, said that he would order the revenue service to go after Planned Parenthood. That, of course, would be illegal.
"Planned Parenthood had better hope that Hillary Clinton wins this election," Jindal said, "because I guarantee you that under President Jindal, January 2017, the Department of Justice and the IRS and everybody else that we can send from the federal government will be going into Planned Parenthood."
Jindal noted that he had terminated his state's Medicaid contract with the health provider earlier this week. He also sided with congressional Republicans pushing to turn the defunding of the group into fodder for a government shutdown in the fall.
"In terms of shutting down the government, I don't think the president should choose to shut down the government simply to send taxpayer dollars to this group that has been caught, I believe, breaking the laws but also offending our values and our ethics," he said.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki was asked whether his pro-choice views have changed at all since the videos were released.
"My heart has not changed, because I've always been appalled by abortion," Pataki replied. "I'm a Catholic, I believe life begins at conception... Roe v. Wade has been the law for 42 years, and I don't think we should continue to try to change it."
Pataki also called for a permanent ban on any taxpayer dollars going to abortion, although such a ban is already effectively in place. No federal dollars fund abortion because the Hyde Amendment is routinely inserted into federal spending bills.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), for his part, said that he wanted to defund Planned Parenthood and redirect those funds toward "women's health care, without having to harvest the organs of the unborn."
One problem with Graham's plan is that community health centers might find it impossible to absorb all of Planned Parenthood's Medicaid patients, given that there is a nationwide shortage of Medicaid-participating providers, particularly for reproductive health care, according to the Government Accountability Office.
While the various Republicans' attacks on the health care provider may help them among primary voters, it might not be a strategy that pays off at the national level, since Planned Parenthood has a higher favorability rating than any single presidential candidate.
Also on HuffPost:
