Washington (CNSNews.com) Likely Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain supports ending all federal funding to Planned Parenthood, an abortion business that he said was founded to target African Americans and is continuing that mission. Heres why I support de-funding Planned Parenthood, because you dont hear a lot of people talking about this, when Margaret Sanger check my history started Planned Parenthood, the objective was to put these centers in primarily black communities so they could help kill black babies before they came into the world, Cain told CNSNews.com on Tuesday when speaking at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Cains comment was in response to a question from CNSNews.com about whether the Republican-controlled Congress should vote against any federal tax dollars for Planned Parenthood.
You dont see that talked that much about, said Cain. Its not Planned Parenthood. No, its planned genocide. You can quote me on that.
Cain, an African American and the former CEO of Godfathers Pizza, is a columnist, author, talk-radio host, and a tea party activist. He has established an exploratory committee for the 2012 presidential race.
Another reporter later followed-up, asking Cain if he supported de-funding the abortion business because of why it was founded or because of its current mission.
Cain said he does not believe there is a great distance between Planned Parenthoods past and present mission.
Its carrying out its original mission, Cain said. Ive talked to young girls who go in there and they dont talk about how you plan parenthood. They dont talk about adoption as an option. They dont say bring your parents in so you we can talk to you before you make this decision.
Talk to some young lady who has gone into some of these centers to see what kind of conversation takes place, said Cain. They have basically carried out their original mission. Theres not any planning other than to abort the baby.
When they have an objective to put 75 percent [Planned Parenthood facilities] in African American communities, says to me they are targeting blacks, Cain continued. They are doing the same thing at the other 25 percent, I guess.
In response to a question, Cain also told CNSNews.com that House Republican leaders should follow the lead of Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Steve King (R-Iowa) who want to block any continuing resolution on the federal budget that funds the health care overhaul law, popularly known as ObamaCare.
I think the leadership should follow their lead, absolutely, Cain said. When you have over 1,000 businesses asking for exemptions from ObamaCare, shouldnt that say something is wrong with it? he said. Its called: Its a disaster. Its a disaster before it gets out of the starting gate. What part of this isnt going to work do some people not understand? Youve got 1,000 businesses who have asked for exemptions. The administration granted all of them.
They know there is something fundamentally flawed about this legislation, said Cain. It is not bringing down cost as it was advertised. It is in fact driving up costs even with the little bit of implementation that theyre doing. It is not increasing access. In fact its decreasing access because youve got small businesses out there saying, Im dropping my health insurance.
According to its annual report, Planned Parenthood received $363.2 million in government grants and contracts during its 2008-09 fiscal year, up from $349.6 million in FY 2007-08. According to a fact sheet on its Web site, Planned Parenthood performed 324,008 abortions in calendar year 2008.
The CDC recently reported that in New York City in 2007, there were 87,527 abortions performed, and 43,568 (or 49.8 percent) of the aborted babies were black. The Census Bureau says there are 8,302,659 people in New York City, of whom 2,085,514 -- or 25 percent -- are black. Thus, black babies in New York City were aborted at a rate that is twice the black share of the municipal population.