Confronting Planned Parenthood at the polls

According to a recent poll, 54 percent of Americans give Planned Parenthood a “mostly negative” rating after they hear details about the organization’s involvement in the trafficking of aborted babies’ body parts. The poll’s findings suggest learning “basic truths” about Planned Parenthood causes public opinion to “shift dramatically” against the nation’s leading abortion provider and could be a factor in next year’s presidential elections.

The Polling Company, Inc., conducted the nationwide survey of 1,009 randomly selected adults earlier this month on behalf of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). Between July and October, CMP released nearly a dozen undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood executives negotiating fees for aborted babies’ organs and discussing “grisly” procurement tactics.

Despite the encouraging new data, politicians and grassroots organizers know poll responses don’t necessarily translate into votes at the ballot box. A pro-life activist’s educational tactics in the field might not suit a pro-life candidate’s broad campaign strategy adapted to a national audience that is half “pro-choice.” And pro-life candidates must contend with abortion-friendly mainstream media prone to skew their position.

Still, many right-to-life leaders believe Planned Parenthood’s present public relations crisis will give pro-life candidates an edge in the 2016 elections. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said the “only winning way” is to be “aggressive with the message. If not, the other side writes the script.”

“Democrats, young women, and Hispanics” are particularly receptive to information SBA List canvassers have shared about the CMP videos and late-term abortion, Dannenfelser noted.

“This is fresh news to them,” she said. “The message is penetrating in a way I haven’t seen before in my career.”

Republican presidential campaigns have not ignored the message, either. Never before has such a large slate of presidential candidates publicly denounced abortion-industry practices. But it’s not their key platform. Of the four leading Republican presidential contenders—Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson—only Cruz currently has critical statements about Planned Parenthood (calling the organization a “morally bankrupt business”) posted on his campaign website. Carson’s website notes he is “unabashedly and entirely pro-life,” and Rubio criticizes Washington social policy for not defending the traditional family. As of Dec. 16, none of the 56 press releases and five position statements posted on Trump’s website addresses abortion.

Public sentiment often shapes a candidate’s campaign strategy, and very few Americans consider abortion an urgent problem. An early December Gallup poll indicated terrorism was a top concern for voters, at 16 percent, with the economy ranking top of the list for 9 percent of respondents. But in the same poll, fewer than 1 percent of Americans said they consider abortion the country’s most serious problem.

“Unfortunately, Planned Parenthood still has a positive name identification,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee.

The entire abortion industry has deep pockets and strong political clout. But Tobias said she believes Republican candidates can do well in the general election if they “campaign on issues that resonate well with ‘pro-choice’ voters, like ending taxpayer funding of abortion, [asserting] rights for babies who survive abortion, and banning abortion after pre-born babies can feel pain.”

Since polls show more than half of Americans still might not be aware of the CMP videos, a presidential campaign heavily invested in sullying Planned Parenthood’s reputation may gain few returns. In late August, as the controversy surrounding the CMP videos escalated, 51 percent of Americans said they had not seen or even heard about the videos, according to a Fox News poll. And last week’s Polling Company survey found only 28 percent of Americans had seen at least one of the CMP videos.

Nevertheless, “being pro-life is an advantage to a candidate,” Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said, “because abortion in America … is out of control and out of step with voters.”

Congress agrees. Like the “informed” Polling Place respondents, a slight majority of the nation’s top lawmakers also hold a negative view of Planned Parenthood’s practices. On Sept. 29, the House voted 241-185 to prohibit federal funds from being provided to Planned Parenthood for one year. To the surprise of many pundits, on Dec. 3 the Senate followed suit, 52-47.

President Barack Obama has said he’ll veto the bill.

To defund Planned Parenthood, Republicans will have to win the White House and hold on to both chambers of Congress. In what’s expected to be a close election, that might mean pro-life activists and candidates must convince undecided and historically liberal voters to cast their ballots in light of Planned Parenthood’s deplorable practices.