SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 29, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is standing by his decision to defund Planned Parenthood Association of Utah.
A Texas grand jury on on Monday cleared Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast of the wrongdoing alleged in an undercover video made by an anti-abortion organization. The grand jury went on to indict two of the video’s makers.
“That does not mean the information on tape was necessarily wrong,” Herbert said of the grand jury’s decision, at a news conference on Thursday. “I’m looking for the Congress and their investigations to really be the ultimate decision maker.”
Herbert had previously said he based his August decision to block funding to Planned Parenthood of Utah (PPAU) in part on the videos, which alleged that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast had sold fetal tissue for profit.
House Minority Whip Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, on Thursday released a statement that charged Herbert with reacting to “heavily edited, highly political” videos, and asking him to reinstate the PPAU’s $275,000 per year contract with the state, money that came from Federal funding.
“Texas has now cleared the organization and charged the video creators,” said the Chavez-Houck statement, also supported by Utah Democratic Reps. Angela Romero, Salt Lake City; Patrice Arent, Millcreek; and Carol Spackman Moss, Holladay.
“This is a clear message that the contracts and services Planned Parenthood provides are legal and supportive to men and women in our communities across the state,” the statement said.
The governor said his defunding decision was not based on “political whim,” but his view that Utah “should not have to be associated with somebody or some organization that is violating the law.”
Herbert told listeners that, as he understands it, the Texas grand jury’s indictment of filmmakers David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, of the Center for Medical Progress, was related to how they collected the undercover information, and not whether their allegations were true.
The video alleged that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast sold aborted fetal tissue for a profit. Multiple Texas law agencies that worked together on a two-month investigation said they found no evidence to support that charge.
Daleidan and Merritt were indicted on charges of tampering with government records, and Daleidan will also face charges of offering to purchase human organs, which he did on tape as part of his “sting” video.
“I don’t feel duped by the videos,” Herbert said on Thursday. “The videos are pretty self-explanatory and they’re all available for anyone to watch…. I know they’ve been edited but they say what they say.”
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert cited the videos in question as part of the reason behind his decision in August to defund PPAU. PPAU filed an appeal to Herbert’s decision, which was declined by a Utah judge who said Herbert acted within his rights.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, in Denver, last month granted an injunction that will keep Herbert from cutting federal funds previously awarded to PPAU, at least until the appeals process is completed. The case is on the court schedule in March.
