Obama delays Planned Parenthood appearance

President Obama, who was scheduled to give the keynote address at Planned Parenthood’s annual gala Thursday night in Washington, D.C., will now speak before a gathering of the nation’s largest abortion provider on Friday morning.

White House press secretary Jay Carney announced the change in plans during today’s regular White House press briefing. Carney said the president changed his schedule in order to spend more time in Waco, Texas, where he’ll attend a memorial service at Baylor University for family members of the victims of last week’s fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.

According to some pro-life advocates, by delaying his speech from Thursday night's gala to a Friday morning session, the president might be trying to distance himself from Planned Parenthood amid the public outcry over the brutality on display during the ongoing trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell.

“President Obama swapping a Planned Parenthood fundraising gala Thursday night for an address on Friday shows that while he is certainly willing to avoid a photo of him at an abortion party while the nation mourns, he still refuses to distance himself from the nation’s No. 1 abortion provider and an industry that preys on women and defenseless children as exposed through the Gosnell trial and other atrocities,” pro-life activist Lila Rose posted on her Facebook page this evening.

Tonight the president and first lady will be in Dallas for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. Tomorrow they will attend the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center before heading to Waco for the West victims’ memorial service.

This article corrects an earlier report that President Obama canceled his appearance before Planned Parenthood.