.jpg)
Yesterday he said the following about Planned Parenthood. He recalled a hearing when he was in the Texas Senate while he was trying to pass a bill requiring a person seeking the termination of a pregnancy to watch her sonogram.
He said:
I remember this testimony from a young lady back in 2009 -- and it took me six years to pass the sonogram bill but you never give up -- and I said her testimony that morning was so compelling that we are going to keep pursuing this until we have a victory. And she was a young girl who was not married and was there testifying with her boyfriend. They were going to get married. She was pregnant. She testified how she went to Planned Parenthood. And – she was a young teenager - She was even . . . Planned Parenthood sounded like a place to go talk about parenthood. She wanted to have the baby. Her and her boyfriend had decided to have the baby. And she went there and Planned Parenthood told her, according to her testimony, that there was no heartbeat and the baby was dead and they pushed a piece of paper in front of her and told her to sign it and get an abortion. She broke down in tears that day at the center. Ran out because she was in shock. And she found out from a friend that there was a crisis pregnancy center – a Christian based place – in the area and she went to them to seek, in essence, a second opinion. They told her that the baby’s alive. There is a heartbeat. She was lied to. And she sat there that day [at the hearing] pregnant ready to have the baby and told her story.
Here's a research project: Is that true? Her story certainly can't be confirmed and even Patrick leaves himself an out by saying "according to her testimony". But my question is: Did a teenager testify before a committee in Austin where Patrick was a member and actually say that? I have serious doubts but I could be wrong. I don't know where to start.
(He later compared Planned Parenthood to ISIS.)
Edit: If he is correct that 2009 is the year, it would have been Senate Bill 182 that was was introduced and would have been the basis for the hearing with the teenager. So far, I found nothing to back him up but I'll continue to look.
Edit: Research update. There was a hearing on March 19, 2009 on the bill in the State Affairs Committee that Patrick took part in. I've discovered that it was closed to the public. (WHAT??!!). But here is a list of witnesses in favor of the bill so the search narrows:
Calix, Casey (Self), Cedar Park, TX
DeVillez, Lori (Self), Round Rock, TX
Friedewald, Vincent M.D. (Self), Spicewood, TX
Gerstenschlager, MerryLynn (Texas Eagle Forum and Self), Weatherford, TX
Graham, Elizabeth (Texas Right to Life), Houston, TX
Holze, Margaret (also providing written testimony) (Life Advocates), Houston, TX
Nickols, Beverly M.D. (Self), New Brawnfels, TX
Nunnelly, Patrick (Self), Austin, TX
Roberts, Beverly (also providing written testimony) (Concerned Women for America, Coalition for Life)
Ross, Elizabeth (Self), Austin, TX
Saenz, Jonathan (also providing written testimony) (Free Market Foundation), Austin, TX
Scheffler, James (Self), Salado, TX
Weber, Randy (Self), Pearland, TX
Williams, Terry (Self), San Marcos, TX
Edit: A VERY resourceful reader found video of what I thought was closed hearing. It's at 3:48. The boyfriend Casey Calix is the one who gave the story with Danielle Froehlich by his side who did not say a word. Dan Patrick embellished it a bit, but it was essentially what he said.