Planned Parenthood Media Director Accepts Job in Obama Administration
Planned Parenthood's former media director Tait Sye is now working for the Department of Health and Human Services as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs.
Sye played a major role in speaking for the nation's largest abortion provider on a daily basis and most recently had to defend HHS's rule that required most employers, including some self-insured religious institutions, to provide free birth control.
Planned Parenthood performs more than one-quarter of all abortions in the United States and has sued multiple states for either cutting or eliminating a portion of their public funding.
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In his new role, Sye will assist the communication efforts for the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sye's new role will undoubtedly not sit well with Republicans and pro-life advocates who have battled Planned Parenthood on a consistent basis for decades. A House committee is investigating the abortion provider for a number of funding discrepancies.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, told The Washington Times that Sye's experience would be well used at HHS.
"Frankly, this is not surprising," she said. "Planned Parenthood and HHS have practically become synonymous so there will be very little – if any – learning curve."
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who received Susan B. Anthony's endorsement after former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum suspended his campaign, has said he would work to eliminate federal funds to Planned Parenthood.
American's United for Life President Charmaine Yoest was even more direct in her comments when she heard news of Sye's new job. "Personnel is policy…This is one more example of how intertwined the Obama administration is with the abortion industry and Planned Parenthood," she wrote in an email to Politico.
HHS did not respond to repeated request for a comment on Sye's new role.
