Governor Scott orchestrating facts with Planned Parenthood

Governor Scott orchestrating facts with Planned Parenthood

By Roger Caldwell

      Fox News and the Republicans have made a conscious decision to destroy Planned Parenthood, with dishonest and heavily edited videos, where the truth is not important. Basically, their accusation is that the medical leadership of Planned Parenthood is selling fetal tissue for profit, and breaking the law. This accusation is not true, and the media has a responsibility to stop fraudulent manufactured videos, which are not based on facts.

Abortions are 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s business, but based on the accusations, it would appear that abortion is 90 percent of their business. When conservatives think they have discovered a liberal or progressive organization in the wrong, they go in for the kill.

Planned Parenthood has provided millions of women, men, and teenagers’ sexual health care for over 100 years. There are over 700 health care centers across the country, and they provide care, even if you are unable to pay. Some of the areas they provide health care in are birth control, body i-mage, general health care, men’s sexual health, pregnancy, STDS, and women health.

Based on the story that was promoted by Fox, Governor Scott jumped on the persecute Planned Parenthood bandwagon, and sent out investigators to 16 locations. At these 16 locations in Florida, the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration found there was no mishandling of fetal remains at the clinics run by Planned Parenthood personnel.

Therefore, on Aug. 5, 2015, emails between the governor’s office, and AHCA obtained by POLITICO Florida through a public records request show the agency prepared a press release that same day noting that “there is no evidence of the mishandling of fetal remains at any of the 16 clinics, we investigated across the state.”

But, Scott office revised the release to exclude that sentence, by Scott’s communications director, Jackie Schutz. The revised release indicated that AHCA would refer physicians who worked at the clinics to the Board of Medicine for possible disciplinary action. This release is not the truth, but Scott’s administration doesn’t need any evidence to attack an organization that is helping poor and minority folks.

There is something wrong in Scott administration, when Katherine Riviere, the communication director of AHCA sends an email after reviewing the press release, and asks what happened to the information. “I would have thought a line on no evidence of mishandling of fetal remains would be included as that’s what the questions will be on,” says Ms. Riviere.

This is not the first time that something like this has happened with Scott’s administration. There should be more investigations into Governor’s Scott office changing press releases and reports, and giving out misinformation to the residents of Florida.

When the residents of the state cannot trust the governor to give out accurate information, everyone wonders what other information has been altered or changed to support his position. Maybe Scott has never told Floridians the truth from his first day in office, and now he is getting caught up in a web of lies. This is the way our governor has always done business, and there is a reason why he does not honor the sunshine laws in the state.