Poll: 68% want Planned Parenthood body parts scandal probed, even 64% of Dems

By PAUL BEDARD (@SECRETSBEDARD) • 12/15/15 12:20 PM

Three quarters of Republicans and independents, and a surprising
64 percent of Democrats, want the scandal over Planned Parenthood's sale of body parts from abortions investigated, according to a new survey.
The poll, provided to Secrets, also found majority backing to freeze, cut or eliminate federal taxpayer support for the national women's medical group that has been scandalized in undercover videos that have captured top executives talking openly about selling fetus parts.
As a result, Kellyanne Conway, the president of The Polling Company that did the survey, is urging conservative leaders to step up criticism of Planned Parenthood and push the anti-abortion agenda during the 2016 elections.
"Attempts to expose more Americans to these horrific practices should be redoubled, while preparing to defend the predictable and specious attacks and deflections by this well-funded industry suffering its worst PR crisis in years," she wrote in a three-page memo that can be seen here.
The poll comes follows the release of several undercover videos from

the Center for Medical Progress that showed how coldly Planned Parenthood executives approached the business of abortion and distribution of body parts. The House has created a special committee to investigate the scandal, and Conway said that will help keep the issue in front of Americans. Conway's survey showed that when told of the videos, most adults turned against Planned Parenthood. Key findings pulled from her memo: -- After answering a series of questions on the baby body parts expose and hearing that Planned Parenthood is "the nation's largest abortion provider, receives a half billion dollars from the government each year, spends millions of dollars in partisan political activities and was recently exposed on video as bartering the cost of baby body parts and fetal tissue, a 54 percent majority say they are "mostly negative" toward Planned Parenthood. -- On a separate question, a 68 percent majority of Americans, including majorities of self-identified Republicans (76 percent), independents (72 percent), and Democrats (64 percent) back continued investigations based on the video allegations. -- 56 percent favor some sort of adjustment to Planned Parenthood's taxpayer funding: 27 percent say it should be frozen, while a separate 19 percent say it should be eliminated, and another 10 percent would reduce its funding.

Conway concludes that it is up to conservatives to take on Planned Parenthood, which itself plans to spend millions to back pro- abortion candidates in the upcoming election.
She wrote, "When we communicate three basic truths about Planned Parenthood being the nation's top abortion provider, that: senior official there have been shown on video to be discussing; the harvesting and trafficking of aborted baby body parts, and; engage in one-sided partisan electioneering, support for the organizations and their taxpayer funding tumbles. Planned Parenthood is not going to spend their millions telling the public about these practices but we can. And if we do, we do what is right morally and sound politically."

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.