|
 Support for federal funding of Planned Parenthood itself to
provide those women's health services was even stronger, according
to the Reuters/Ipsos released on Wednesday.
The non-profit's image has taken a hit, the poll found, after an
anti-abortion group earlier this year began releasing videos
purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating prices
for aborted fetal tissue.
Of the participants who had seen the videos, 44 percent said their
views toward Planned Parenthood had become more negative.
Still, the strong support for federal funds to help Planned
Parenthood provide screenings, pregnancy tests and prenatal services
indicates Republican presidential candidates should tread carefully
addressing the issue on the campaign trail.
"We have so many young people having babies when they're babies
themselves, and if they can get some kind of birth control or help
or education, anything to stop that trend would be very good," said
Renee Harrison, 57, of Waldo, Wisconsin.
 Harrison said she is a Republican but was not happy with the party's
stance on Planned Parenthood. "I may have to not vote Republican,"
she said.
Planned Parenthood, which provides health services to millions of
women at hundreds of centers nationwide, came under a storm of
criticism after the videos were released by an activist group called
the Center for Medical Progress.
Planned Parenthood has denied wrongdoing. It says abortions make up
just 3 percent of its work.
Planned Parenthood and the Center for Medical Progress did not
immediately respond to requests for comment on the poll.
Republicans in the U.S. Senate brought up legislation earlier this
month to cut off the more than $500 million in federal funds Planned
Parenthood receives each year. That money cannot be used for
abortions.
Democrats sided with the non-profit and the measure failed. But many
conservatives want to keep pressing the issue, with support from
some candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination in
2016.
Republicans want to appeal to primary voters by criticizing what
they see as bad behavior, without driving moderates toward the
Democratic nominee in the November 2016 election.
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The Reuters/Ipsos poll shows they should be cautious on women's
health issues.
Seventy-three percent of respondents said they supported federal
funding for an unnamed group to provide women's health exams, 69
percent backed federal dollars for prenatal services, and 59 percent
were in favor of it for contraception.
When the question was asked a different way, more participants said
they backed federal dollars for Planned Parenthood specifically to
provide those services.
Democrats and Republicans supported federal funding for the
services, even when Planned Parenthood was named.
Overall, 54 percent of those in the poll supported federal funding
of Planned Parenthood, and 26 percent opposed it.
"They provide a lot of services for people that otherwise wouldn't
be able to have them," said Carol Brooks, 62, of Anderson, South
Carolina. She said she was deciding between former Texas Governor
Rick Perry and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson for president.
Others reacted differently. Forty-four percent of respondents who
saw the Center for Medical Progress videos said they now have a more
negative view of Planned Parenthood, compared with 34 percent who
said their views were unchanged.
After the videos were described to poll respondents, 39 percent said
Planned Parenthood should not receive government funding and 34
percent said federal dollars should continue.
(Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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