President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to deliver a speech to Planned Parenthood on Friday.
The organization is America’s leading abortion provider.
During a speech at the Planned Parenthood National Conference in Washington, Obama told the room of about 1,000 attendees that the organization is here to stay, despite efforts by Republicans to strip the group of federal funding.
Planned Parenthood received $542 million in federal funding in 2012.
“[N]o matter how great the challenge of opposition,” Obama told the crowd, “Planned Parenthood is not going anywhere.”
“It’s not going anywhere today, it’s not going anywhere tomorrow.”
USA Today reports that President Obama never once mentioned the word “abortion” during his remarks, only the “right to choose.”
“One core principle has guided everything you do: that women should make their own decisions about their health,” Obama said. “Yet there are those in Congress who still want to turn back the clock with policies of the 1950s in the 21st century.”
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards lauded Obama for passing Obamacare, which forces health insurers to raise rates on men to meet the higher cost of insuring women.
“Because of President Obama, being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition in America,” she exclaimed in her introduction of the president.
“Thank you Planned Parenthood. God bless you. God bless you,” Obama concluded.