IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
ICYMI: Breast cancer bill fuels effort to unseat Va. Republican in swing district
The Washington Post
By Antonio Olivo
July 15, 2015
U.S. Rep. Barbara J. Comstock came under fire from Democrats on Wednesday for withdrawing her support for a bipartisan bill meant to generate millions of dollars for breast cancer awareness because it might help a group that also offers abortion services.
Tuesday’s action by Comstock (R-Va.) and other House Republicans delayed what was initially expected to be a noncontroversial vote on a bill that would direct proceeds from a commemorative coin to groups fighting breast cancer. That changed after antiabortion groups voiced concerns that some money would go to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
That group, which offers breast-cancer screening and abortion services, was featured in a secretly recorded video widely circulated before Tuesday’s vote. The video showed a Planned Parenthood executive discussing the distribution of body parts from aborted fetuses.
The bill was amended Wednesday so that the Susan G. Komen foundation — the country’s largest private funder of breast cancer research and a supporter of Planned Parenthood — is no longer a beneficiary, Republican and Democratic officials said. After the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in New York was named the sole beneficiary, the bill passed out of the House Wednesday afternoon.
The political backlash over the bill shows how Comstock and other Republicans walk a fine line on women’s health issues in the runup to the 2016 presidential elections in swing districts where female voters may play a large role.
Last year, Democrats repeatedly attacked Comstock on her opposition to abortion in an effort to portray her as too extreme for her district. But it didn’t work: She easily won her bid to take over for retiring congressman Frank R. Wolf in Northern Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. Comstock is expected to face a much closer reelection fight next year in the increasingly moderate district. But she doesn’t have an opponent yet, and she has reported robust fundraising — amassing $1 million, according to recent reports.
In her first term, Comstock has stuck with her party in recent votes on abortion and immigration, but she has bucked Republican leaders on behalf of federal employees and regional transportation.
Democrats vowed to continue to attack Comstock on women’s health issues, saying she is still vulnerable on that topic in a district that stretches from the eastern part of Fairfax County toward the West Virginia border and includes both stay-at-home moms and women with high-powered careers.
“Barbara Comstock is a one-term wonder,” said Jermaine House, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. On Wednesday, the group derided her withdrawal of support on the breast cancer bill as an example of how she aligns herself with the Republican Party’s ultra-conservative wing and is out of touch with female voters.
“On the issue of a woman’s right to choose, she almost always votes with the extremes of the party,” House said.
A spokesman for Comstock said the congresswoman has long been an advocate for breast cancer research and is more comfortable with the bill now that the link to Planned Parenthood has been severed by eliminating Komen as a beneficiary.
“The Congresswoman supports H.R. 2722 in its current form, which makes clear that all dedicated funds will directly benefit breast cancer research,” spokesman Jeff Marschner said before the bill passed with 421 “aye” votes. It is now headed for a vote in the Senate.
What is also known as the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act directs the Treasury Department to mint as many as 50,000 commemorative gold coins and as many as 400,000 commemorative silver coins, with proceeds going toward raising breast cancer awareness.
On Tuesday, Comstock and 24 other House Republicans withdrew their support from the bill after several groups began voicing concerns that sales would benefit Planned Parenthood indirectly.
Those concerns were heightened by the video circulated Tuesday featuring the Planned Parenthood executive, Deborah Nucatola.
Planned Parenthood officials have said the video was heavily edited to misrepresent the conversation. The group said some Planned Parenthood affiliates donate tissues from aborted fetuses to medical researchers — with the permission of women having the procedure — and that they charge a processing fee.
Although the bill had all along listed Komen as a chief beneficiary, Republican leaders realized only Tuesday morning that was the case, when the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups began alerting them.
“There were a lot of folks who didn’t realize that Komen was getting the money,” said Dan Holler, spokesman for the Heritage Foundation. “The salesmanship of it was all raising awareness for breast cancer.”
Komen officials said the fight over the bill reflects “a continued misunderstanding” of the group’s relationship with Planned Parenthood. Komen provides a total of $465,000 to 11 neighborhood Planned Parenthood centers for breast-cancer screening and outreach programs, the group said in an e-mailed statement.
“Komen does not and never has funded abortion or reproductive services at Planned Parenthood or any grantee,” the statement said.