Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) is fundraising off of the Planned Parenthood controversy, condemning Republicans lawmakers for pushing to defund the federally funded organization after video surfaced of officials touting the sale of aborted baby body parts.
The Weekly Standard reported that Gillibrand circulated a fundraising email Monday blasting congressional Republicans for spearheading an investigation into Planned Parenthood following the release of two videos by the non-profit Center for Medical Progress.
"Right now, Republicans in Washington are pushing legislation allowing employers to fire single women for getting pregnant--AND they’re leading an ‘investigation’ to undercut Planned Parenthood," Gillibrand wrote in the message to potential supporters. "This makes my head explode."
"I’m confident that if we had more women leading in Washington, we would not still be dealing with the right wing’s efforts to trample women’s health care."
Gillibrand, who previously deemed it "vital" that a woman become president in 2016, called on voters to support Reps. Tammy Duckworth (D., Ill.) and Donna Edwards (D., Md.) and California Attorney General Kamala Harris , all of whom are running for Senate in 2016.
Harris already vowed to review the Center for Medical Progress for its secret recording of the Planned Parenthood videos.
After the release of the first video, which shows Planned Parenthood’s top doctor discussing the sale of heart, liver, and other body parts of aborted babies over lunch, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) demanded hearings be held on the "gruesome" abortion practices.
While Democrats were initially silent on the issue, the release of the second video capturing a Planned Parenthood official talking about the sale of fetal tissue prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats to defend the organization.
Clinton labeled the videos "an attack against women’s right to choose," and Pelosi labeled them "a controversy that doesn’t exist," calling on the Justice Department to launch a probe into the Center for Medical Progress.