TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Emails show the governor's office changed a press release involving investigations into Planned Parenthood, and the health care group said the changes show the governor was only trying to play political games.
Viral videos from another state sparked outrage over Planned Parenthood's alleged fetal remains practices. The videos caused Scott to call for an investigation into clinics in Florida.
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The investigations found the 16 facilities didn't participate in fetal remains deals. An early August press release, originally obtained by Politico Florida, intended to make that clear. The line, "However, there is no evidence of the mishandling of fetal remains at any of the 16 clinics we investigated across the state," appeared in the version the Agency for Healthcare Administration wrote. But once it went through the governor's office, the line disappeared.
When asked why the line saying there was no evidence of fetal remains violations was taken out, Gov. Rick Scott's communications team Director Jackie Schutz responded, "Our office often works with our agencies on materials."
Planned Parenthood representative Damien Filer said it confirms what the healthcare provider has been saying all along.
"From the beginning, our take on this has been the motivations were political, because we couldn't understand what else they would be," Filer said.
When asked if his office was trying to make Planned Parenthood look bad, Scott was non-committal