Murray on Latest Anti-Abortion Activist Appointed to Key HHS Post: “Completely Inappropriate Choice”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, criticized President Trump’s appointment of Teresa Manning, an anti-abortion activist, to the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a position that oversees the Title X family planning program.

"President Trump is stacking his Administration with one extreme, anti-abortion activist after another and ignoring the millions of men and women who don't want to see women's health and rights go backward. Ms. Manning has repeatedly spread false information about women's health and advocated for policies that would undermine women's access to birth control and other essential health care. She is a completely inappropriate choice for this role."

Murray previously spoke out against the selection of anti-abortion Chairmaine Yoest for Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at HHS. She also led the fight to force Vice President Mike Pence to cast two tiebreaking votes during Republican efforts to roll back an Obama Administration rule intended to prevent discrimination in state-level funding decisions against Title X family planning providers.

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