Hillary Clinton pens op-ed supporting Planned Parenthood in New Hampshire
The state's Republican-controlled Executive Council voted Wednesday to restore funding to the organization.
Readers of the Concord Monitor may have noticed a surprise op-ed author in their paper Wednesday.
Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, bylined an op-ed in the New Hampshire newspaper defending Planned Parenthood, ahead of the state’s Executive Council vote to restore funding to the health services organization.
The former secretary of state wrote that it was “all too easy” to think of defunding Planned Parenthood as a “political statement.” The Executive Council, which controls much of the state’s spending, voted last year to reject funding for the nonprofit.
“But in making these kinds of decisions, the Executive Council isn’t just playing politics – they’re playing with their constituents’ health and well-being,” Clinton wrote. “When Planned Parenthood is threatened, the health of men and women all across our country is endangered as well.”
Clinton followed up the op-ed with a tweet letting New Hampshire’s Republican-controlled Executive Council know that she was watching.
In today’s vote on Planned Parenthood, the NH Executive Council can choose families or a political agenda. Watching which side they pick. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 29, 2016
Yet, in a surprise turn, the Executive Council announced Wednesday afternoon they had voted 3-2 to restore state contracts with Planned Parenthood.
Chris Sununu—one of three Republican council members and a candidate for governor this year—cast the deciding vote in favor of renewing funding, despite voting last year to defund the organization. Sununu said he voted against the Planned Parenthood contracts last year over concerns about since-dismissed charges of wrongdoing.
My statement on today’s Executive Council vote. pic.twitter.com/Tg55wpNxjF
— Chris Sununu (@ChrisSununu) June 29, 2016
Audible gasp in Exec Council when @ChrisSununu casts deciding vote to approve funding for Planned Parenthood. #nhpolitics
— Josh McElveen (@JoshMcElveen) June 29, 2016
Sununu hasn’t always toed the party line; he had also broken with the GOP majority on the council in 2011 to vote in favor of funding Planned Parenthood.
Following the decision, Clinton’s account retweeted her New Hampshire campaign’s account celebrating the decision.
https://twitter.com/HillaryforNH/status/748199877872586752
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