Hillary Clinton is the presidential candidate of choice for Planned Parenthood employees, according to campaign financial records released Wednesday.
The former secretary of state collected nearly $10,000 from nine individuals who work for the country’s largest abortion provider, including from several high ranking executives at the billion-dollar operation. The first quarter fundraising total nearly matches the amount Clinton received over the course of her previous three political runs.
She received far more from Planned Parenthood employees than her Democratic rivals, the former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., VT), the former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, and the former Virginia senator Jim Webb. Webb, O’Malley, and Sanders have perfect pro-abortion voting records, while Chafee scored a 90, according to NARAL rankings. But Clinton raised 20 times as much money from Planned Parenthood employees. Sanders was the only other candidate to receive money from the abortion provider, garnering two donations totaling $500.
Vicki Cowart, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, Melissa Flournoy, the state director of Louisiana Planned Parenthood, and Catherine Valentine, general counsel for the San Jose-based Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, all contributed the primary maximum of $2,700 to Clinton’s campaign. Clinton led the entire presidential field with more than $46 million in total fundraising.
The FEC disclosures were released one day after video emerged of a top doctor from Planned Parenthood discussing the harvesting of organs from aborted babies. The non-profit Center for Medical Progress released footage of a nearly three-hour lunch two activists had with Dr. Deborah Nucatola, who ate salad and sipped wine during the conversation.
The organization’s president, Cecile Richards, apologized on Thursday for Nucatola’s tone while defending the practice.
Nearly every Republican candidate, including the pro-choice former New York governor George Pataki, condemned the video and Planned Parenthood following the release. No Democratic candidate for president has publicly addressed the controversy.
Planned Parenthood has supported the Democratic party in the past. It poured $18 million into outside spending groups in 2014 and 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Most of its nearly $6 million in direct contributions since 1990 have gone to Democrats. Every Democratic candidate except for Webb has benefitted from this cash influx at the federal level. Sanders and Chafee have received nearly $25,000 combined over the course of their careers.
The Washington Free Beacon reached out to the Clinton campaign asking whether the cash-rich frontrunner planned on returning Planned Parenthood donations, as she did contributions from the pornographer Larry Flynt. A spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.