Larry Wilmore tries to wrap his head around anti-Planned Parenthood 'pap smear campaign'

Larry Wilmore tackles the GOP effort to defund Planned Parenthood

(Image credit: The Nightly Show)

"Somebody's lying," said Larry Wilmore on Tuesday's Nightly Show, in a segment dedicated to the effort to strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding. The most recent Republican attempt to defund the women's health organization was spurred by videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they deal with tissue from aborted fetuses — Planned Parenthood says it makes no profit from donating the tissue for research, while the group that secretly filmed and edited the videos says the officials are admitting they do sell the tissue.

In context, Wilmore said, it seems clear that the Center for Medical Progress is the one lying, and "context really matters when it comes to Planned Parenthood videos, just like context matters for that text you sent last night." There's no context allowed on Fox News or in GOP talking points, so "that's why I'm calling this Planned Parenthood attack for what it really is: It's a pap smear campaign," he said. "That's exactly what it is. And in a pap smear campaign, people don't care about facts." The segment ends with an absurdist enactment of what it would look like if the GOP succeeds in its ongoing effort, and you can watch it all below. Peter Weber

The Week

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.