Leaders from women's health organizations held a luncheon at the Riverside Convention Center. The annual fundraiser focused on the future of Planned Parenthood.
The concerted effort to defund Planned Parenthood gained momentum this past summer, when controversial videotapes led to allegations that the group is profiting off fetal tissue. It has since become a highly politicized issue.
Karen Nelson is the CEO of the Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York, and she spoke at the luncheon about focusing on the main mission of the organization. She says there is still wide-spread support for the work they do, no matter what push-back they get from opposition or from Congress.
"We see men women and teens every single day, who rely on the work of Planned Parenthood and who rely on the compassionate care that they get from our health care providers when they come to a Planned Parenthood."
Kathy McQueen is a board member of Feminists for Non Violent Choices, a Rochester-based group that advocates for nonviolence from conception to natural death. She says those other services touted by Planned Parenthood are overshadowed by the fact that the organization helps women abort their pregnancies.
"We believe that abortion is a violent act towards a human being. So any time your funding an organization that provides abortion, you're funding an organization that provides violent acts."
Planned Parenthood is federally funded two ways: through Title X funding, which is a grant program for providing family planning, and Medicaid, which is the federal and state health program for low-income families.
