Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on the vote in which the House of Representatives voted 234 to 181 to allocate $800,000 for the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, a panel that continues to pursue unsubstantiated allegations against Planned Parenthood. Congresswoman Clarke voted “no.”

“For more than a year, the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives has pursued a series of false claims about Planned Parenthood without discovering anything illegal or, for that matter, unethical. A review of these allegations demonstrates that their claims about Planned Parenthood are completely unsubstantiated and seem instead to have been a part of a coordinated attempt by anti-choice activists to discredit Planned Parenthood and undermine the right of women to comprehensive health care. Planned Parenthood provides critical health care services to more than three million men and women each year, and has worked to eliminate the disparities that exist in health care in the United States by providing comprehensive medical services to individuals with private health insurance, individuals without health insurance, and individuals with Medicaid. I am deeply disappointed that Republicans in Congress have persisted in their attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, which would negatively impact its invaluable contributions to health care in the United States.”

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Committee on Ethics and the Committee on Small Business in the House of Representatives, proudly represents Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, Park Slope, Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.