Franklin Graham slams Planned Parenthood fundraising event to be keynoted by Barbara Bush

Leading evangelist Franklin Graham has denounced a Planned Parenthood fundraising event where Barbara Pierce Bush, daughter of former President George W. Bush, will serve as a keynote speaker.

In a Facebook post, Graham compared the fundraiser event for Planned Parenthood to raising money for a Nazi death camp and linked to a news report on Bush's planned speech.

"Planned Parenthood is the #1 abortion provider in the United States. Raising funds for this organization is like raising money to fund a Nazi death camp—like Auschwitz, except for innocent babies in their mother's wombs!" Graham wrote.

"Reports say they perform over 300,000 abortions per year. And this is the organization whose employees were caught on video trying to sell baby body parts over wine. Disgusting," he added.

Bush, who serves as the CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corp., will be delivering the keynote address at the fundraiser that will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday. She has previously expressed her support for abortion, and her company has praised Planned Parenthood in the past.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards told Buzzfeed News that she is excited to have Bush speak at the event. Tickets for the fundraiser are being sold for as low as $150 and as high as $20,000 for a table. Some 2,000 people are expected to attend the luncheon.

"It's huge, and such a diverse crowd, a lot of elected officials, a lot of Republican sort of first families ... I don't know if she's ever spoke at any [Planned Parenthood] event before," she said.

Bush's father had opposed abortion during his time in office, but her mother, Laura Bush, has said she believes abortion should remain legal. In a New York Times interview last summer, Bush said that her father had been supportive of her efforts to campaign for progressive values.

The U.S. Congress has been working on legislation that would strip Planned Parenthood of taxpayer funding. The measure aims to redirect tax dollars to federally-qualified health clinics that offer comprehensive care but do not perform abortions. President Donald Trump has vowed that he would support such a measure.