Analysis: Planned Parenthood's Platner Problem

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

He has blamed women for being victims of rape. One previous girlfriend describes how he roughed her up — “sometimes hard enough to leave marks.” He’s admitted to sexting women other than his wife, and until recently, he had a Kik account, an app often used by sexual predators. His profile picture shows him wearing nothing but a towel.

And he’s also Planned Parenthood’s pick for U.S. Senate in Maine, over the pro-choice (and scandal-free) Sen. Susan Collins.

“Graham Platner will be a champion for sexual and reproductive health care and rights, including keeping politicians out of people’s personal medical decisions and protecting patients’ access to essential reproductive care, including birth control, cancer screenings, IVF, and abortion care,” Planned Parenthood said in a statement.

The decision of a pro-women’s organization like Planned Parenthood to endorse a male candidate who’s used vulgar slurs about female genitalia in his conversations about women strikes some as off-putting.

“It’s insanity,” one New Hampshire Democratic women’s activist told NHJournal on background.

And how did the local Planned Parenthood organization feel about it? Kayla Montgomery, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, declined to comment, other than to tell NHJournal that“as it’s a federal race and therefore the national organization makes the endorsements.”

Republicans like Rep. Jennifer Rhodes (R-Winchester), however, were happy to speak on the record.

“Every survivor of sexual assault and abuse needs to know that their experience matters and that their voice is being heard,” said Rhodes, who is active on victims’ issues.

“When an organization that claims to be dedicated to elevating women chooses to elevate a candidate who has publicly spoken and written about Rape victims and abuse survivors being responsible for the crimes committed against them, they send a dangerous message and precedent that their commitment to the victim is conditional.”

NRSC spokeswoman Samantha Cantrell was even more blunt.

“Graham Planter repeatedly blamed women for getting raped and has been accused of abusing and harassing his girlfriends. He is probably the most anti-woman candidate you could find.”

Conservatives have long argued that women’s organizations have abandoned their feminist bona fides to put partisan politics first. And, they argue, putting a troubled man with a history of violence and misogyny ahead of a pro-choice woman is Exhibit A.

“Unfortunately, every election year we see the leaders of Planned Parenthood become more and more partisan,” said Collins’ spokesman Shawn Roderick. “The leadership cares more about party politics than they do about the issues.”

Planned Parenthood focused most of the commentary on Collins’ vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, claiming it makes her a “fair-weather feminist.”

Collins’ campaign points out that she also voted to confirm all three liberals currently on the court, and that Roe v. Wade would have been repealed 5-4 if a liberal judge were sitting in Kavanaugh’s seat.

Collins sees the Platner problem as far more fundamental than a specific policy dispute.

“To me, one of the most appalling is his making fun of a Purple Heart recipient who had been wounded by the Taliban, lying on the war field, and he ridicules this individual. And another example is his treatment of women in general, and also his opposition to law enforcement. On all those issues, we could not be more different,” Collins told Fox News Monday.

“I would have said in a different time that any one of these would have been disqualifying for someone to be a candidate to serve our country and the state of Maine in the United States Senate, whether they were Democrat or Republican.”

Why didn’t Planned Parenthood, which had already endorsed his Democratic opponent, simply sit this race out? Critics say it’s because backing far-Left candidates like Platner, who excite the progressive base, helps them raise more money.

Or it could just be that they’re standing by a loyal customer.

“I got S.T.I. (Sexually Transmitted Infections) checks at the Portland Planned Parenthood,” Platner said during Monday’s press announcement. “It’s not an embarrassing thing. It’s a smart thing to do, especially when you are younger.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.