WASHINGTON – Following the latest revelations into the motive behind Friday’s shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, CO, DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued the following statement:
 
“The details that have emerged on Friday's shootings in Colorado Springs make it clear that the attack on civilians and law enforcement there was an act of terrorism. Tragically, this horrific attack against Planned Parenthood is not isolated to this instance. Since 1993, at least eight people – four doctors, two clinic employees, a security guard, and a clinic escort – have been murdered in the United States in incidents of anti-choice violence, including a doctor shot to death in 2009 while serving as an usher at a church. Since the politically-motivated campaign to defund Planned Parenthood began this summer with the release of a series of misleading and debunked videos, there have been four attacks on Planned Parenthood centers in the U.S. according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“Those running for president and those of us in leadership roles in our country's major political parties have an obligation to denounce these attacks and clearly say that violence and intimidation in the pursuit of ideology are not acceptable in America. Politicians who peddle lies, whether about Planned Parenthood or immigrants, and those who encourage roughing up Americans who have different opinions have a particular obligation and responsibility to denounce these acts of terror. In addition to the attacks on Planned Parenthood we've seen assaults on Hispanics, the shooting of Black Lives Matter protesters, and ugly shouts at campaign rallies that have gone unchallenged. No political gain is worth what this reckless, dangerous rhetoric is doing to our country, and it must come to an end. 

“In the Planned Parenthood case it's especially troubling that there has been no meaningful reaction from Republican candidates and political leaders. This shameful silence is becoming a theme for Republicans, who are all too ready to denounce a three year old refugee but not acts committed by a domestic terrorist like what we saw Friday.

“We must recommit as a nation to safeguarding the freedoms of every American, regardless of whether we agree with them or not. No person should ever have to fear for their life when seeking medical care, including women who have a constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion, and no person should be intimidated or assaulted because of their ethnicity, or because they are peacefully assembling in protest. Women have the right to make their own choices about their own health care without politicians, their bosses, or a violent criminal with a gun standing in their way. If they want to take the oath of office, politicians have to be willing to protect the rights, freedoms, and democratic principles that already made America great.”