Planned Parenthood President: Racism, White Supremacy a ‘Public Health Crisis’

WASHINGTON -- Acting President of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Alexis McGill Johnson joined other liberal activists to call for the Senate to pass a gun control bill passed by the House after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

"Gun violence is a public health crisis. Racism is a public health crisis and white supremacy is a public health crisis and Planned Parenthood Action Fund is here to demand our policymakers treat them with the urgency they deserve and take action to protect our communities," Johnson said at a rally outside of the White House on Tuesday with progressive groups such as MoveOn.org and Voto Latino. "The most powerful man in the country has used his platform to demonize and dehumanize latino immigrants and every other people of color."

In January, the Democratic-led House passed H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.

Johnson, the acting president of the nation's largest abortion provider, argued that senators are refusing to "check the president's white supremacy" and said lawmakers must do more to keep guns out of the hands of people "ready to unleash violence in our communities."

"We know anti-immigrant sediment incited by the president is to blame," Johnson said, referring to the mass shooting in El Paso.

The man who carried out the El Paso shooting reportedly wrote an anti-immigrant manifesto before the tragedy. He had tweeted about President Trump in the past. According to CNN, the Dayton shooter had tweeted "extreme left views."