ICYMI: 16yo Deja Foxx calls out Republican senator on defunding Planned Parenthood
America is really losing right now when it comes to politics. One thing that hasn’t changed is how a bunch of [mostly straight, white] men come together and think they can speak for everyone.
Congress recently voted along party lines to take away Title X funding from Planned Parenthood and other clinics that offer a variety of medical services, including abortions. Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona was one of the many who voted along party lines.
Days later, he attended a town hall in Mesa, probably assuming it would be a warm welcome from his supporters. Much to his surprise, a young woman named Deja Foxx took the opportunity to call Flake out for his position on women’s health care, according to New York Magazine.
“I just want to state some facts,” Foxx said. “I’m a young woman; you’re a middle-aged man. I’m a person of color, and you’re white. I come from a background of poverty, and I didn’t always have parents to guide me through life; you come from privilege.”
“I’m wondering, as a Planned Parenthood patient and someone who relies on Title X, who you are clearly not, why is it your right to take away my right?”
In response, Flake acknowledged some of his privilege and had a bit of a back and forth with the teen. Flake claimed that his true aim was to make sure everyone had a chance to live the “American Dream.” Foxx then asked him how is that the case if Planned Parenthood helped her do exactly that.