Lankford seeks to defund Planned Parenthood

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – U.S. Senator James Lankford is introducing a bill to end all taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood unless the organization stops performing all abortions.

Lankford announced Wednesday he has introduced the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which would impose a one-year moratorium on federal funding to the organization unless it stops providing abortions.

Planned Parenthood provides a variety of non-abortion health services, including health screenings, family planning and adoption referrals at several clinics in Oklahoma.

Lankford says his bill was prompted in part by the release of secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they provide organs from aborted fetuses for research. He said the video "hit a nerve with many Americans."

Planned Parenthood has said the videos were made by an anti-abortion group that seeks to ban abortions.