As someone who has reported on Rudy Giuliani’s Planned Parenthood donations before, here’s why I think they are newsworthy: The story speaks to Giuliani’s efforts to reach common ground with pro-lifers. Giuliani hasn’t flipped to the pro-life position, but he hasn’t exactly decided to run as a damn-the-torpedoes extreme pro-choice candidate either. He is emphasizing common ground with pro-lifers by supporting certain politically possible legal restrictions and saying he “hates” abortion.

But Giuliani, while hating abortion and saying he would counsel women against it, has given money to the country’s largest abortion provider. It’s fair enough for Giuliani’s supporters to argue that his executive experience, fiscal policy, and national security views should trump his abortion position. But these Planned Parenthood stories are directly relevant to his bid to sell himself as someone pro-lifers can do business with on the abortion issue as well.