Clinton's Response To Planned Parenthood Shooting

In the wake of Friday's deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, pro-choice politicians have been sending their support to the nation's largest family-planning organization. The motive behind the shooting, which left three dead and nine others wounded, is not known at this time, but the site of the attack coupled with the months-long Center for Medical Progress campaign to discredit Planned Parenthood has reinvigorated public support for the organization. Among those public figures who lent their support was Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whose response to the Planned Parenthood shooting was a simple tweet with a strong message.

As the shooting unfolded in Colorado Springs on Friday, Clinton retweeted a statement from Vicki Cowart, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, and added this message: "Today and everyday, we #StandWithPP." Clinton also posted the statement on her official Facebook page.

In an updated statement released Friday, Cowart said Planned Parenthood will "never back away from providing care in a safe, supportive environment that millions of people rely on and trust." Cowart still cannot confirm if the Planned Parenthood Colorado Springs clinic was specifically targeted by the shooter, 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear. Dear allegedly opened fire in the clinic with an assault rifle, but Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains said all of its clinic staff made it out safely.

Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz also released the following statement Saturday reiterating the committee's support for Planned Parenthood, as well as stronger gun control laws:

We don't know all of the details about this particular incident, but we do know that our national epidemic of gun violence must be addressed. Women shouldn't have to fear for their lives to access basic health services or exercise their constitutionally-protected right to choose. Parents shouldn't have to fear for their children's lives dropping them off at school in the morning. Americans shouldn't have to fear going to the movies or other public places where someone with a gun can inflict mass terror. We must recommit to ensuring our communities are safe from these all-too-common acts of gun violence, which have claimed the lives of over ten thousand of our fellow Americans every single year since 2000