Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, tweeted Thursday that they “still believe” Julie Swetnick, the woman who accused then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of being part of a group in high school that gang raped girls at parties.
The abortion advocacy group NARAL backed Planned Parenthood’s statement, tweeting that they too believed Swetnick.
We still believe Julie Swetnick. #BelieveSurvivors
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) October 25, 2018
We still believe Julie Swetnick. #BelieveSurvivors https://t.co/i8nlQzzJwx
— NARAL (@NARAL) October 25, 2018
That statement of unconditional belief is a bit astonishing given that Swetnick herself walked back some of her initial claims regarding Kavanaugh in a NBC interview.
Swetnick and her lawyer Michael Avenatti were referred for criminal prosecution Thursday for making false claims to the Senate Judiciary Committee due to contradictions between the accusations in her sworn statement against Kavanaugh and some of her subsequent statements.
"While the Committee was in the middle of its extensive investigation of the late-breaking sexual-assault allegations made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Avenatti publicized his client’s allegations of drug- and alcohol-fueled gang rapes in the 1980s," Chairman Chuck Grassley's office said in a statement. "The obvious, subsequent contradictions along with the suspicious timing of the allegations necessitate a criminal investigation by the Justice Department."
Planned Parenthood was heavily involved in efforts to block Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. The group even threatened to go after senators who voted to confirm him.
They also argued that “pro-choice” Republican Sen. Susan Collins (ME) could “no longer call herself a women’s rights champion” after voting to confirm Kavanaugh, despite praising her in the past.