During an interview on WKBK Radio, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said that the perpetrator of a fatal shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs “parroted” rhetoric from elected officials.
After calling Republican opposition to gun control “disappointing,” Shaheen said that “one of the things we ought to do also is we need to ask our public officials to be respectful and reasonable in their rhetoric.”
“One of the things we heard from the shooter in Colorado Springs, he almost parroted some of the outrageous and inciteful comments that have been made on social media by some of our officials,” Shaheen said. “That is not a good way to address the issues facing this country.”
“We need to have thoughtful dialogue,” Shaheen continued. “We need to be respectful of other people’s opinions. We need to understand that we’re not all going to agree, but hopefully we can agree to be respectful, and we can agree to debate issues peacefully without name calling, without getting into personal attacks. I think that’s part of how we respond as well as looking at laws.”
Planned Parenthood has been engulfed in a controversy for several months after the Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover videos of the organization’s senior executives appearing to negotiate the price “per specimen” of aborted fetal body parts. Trafficking human body parts – including those of the unborn – is a felony in the United States. Spokesmen for Planned Parenthood have denied illegal conduct, and claimed that they are only reimbursed for “tissue donation” to researchers.
On Nov. 27, Colorado Springs police said Robert Dear, 57, killed three people and wounded nine others at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic.
During an outburst in court, Dear claimed to be a “warrior for the babies.” Police and acquaintances have described Dear as unstable.
Pro-life groups, including the Center for Medical Progress, condemned the violence.
Planned Parenthood and its political allies were quick to point to the “rhetoric” that followed the release of the videos as a possible motive for the attack.
#WeAreBetterThanThis divisive, hateful rhetoric in our headlines. H/T @MoveOn pic.twitter.com/CCLpnBlMDN
— Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) December 11, 2015
Words matter. https://t.co/9vlwktdP27
— Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) December 9, 2015
You can listen to the audio below courtesy of Buzzfeed:
(H/T: Buzzfeed)
