Mike Pence: Cut All Taxpayer Funding for Planned Parenthood

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Dec 17, 2010   |   6:18PM   |   Washington, DC

Rep. Mike Pence, the leading member behind legislation in Congress that would de-fund Planned Parenthood, is not happy about the new annual report the abortion business released.

The annual report shows the total government grants and contracts received by PPFA affiliates from government sources including state, local and federal governments, increased from $350 million in 2009 to $363 million in the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

That comes after a September report revealing the number of abortions Planned Parenthood performed in 2008 increased to 324,008, a 6.1 percent increase over the 305,310 abortions it did in 2007.

Pence, an Indiana congressman with potential presidential ambitions, sent a statement to LifeNews.com Friday afternoon responding to the new taxpayer funding figures:

“It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion.  It is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use those funds to promote abortion.

“Planned Parenthood’s own report shows that the largest abortion provider in America is being bankrolled by American taxpayers.  With a nearly 10 percent unemployment rate, there is simply no reason during these tough economic times why taxpayers’ hard-earned money should fund the activities of abortion providers and equip them with the resources they need to end innocent human life.

“The time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood by passing the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which I intend to introduce again in the next Congress.”

Congressman Pence introduced The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (H.R. 614), a bill prohibiting the distribution of Title X family planning money to entities that use abortion as a method of family planning. The bi-partisan bill has 103 co-sponsors.

The Title X Family Planning program was enacted in 1970 as Title X of the Public Health Service Act. Title X is the only federal grant program that provides individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services.

Pence added:

Originally, family planning services were not allowed to include abortions and currently federal dollars are not used directly for abortions. However, over the years, the subsidy of abortion providers under the umbrella of family planning has been gradually accepted.

Current law prohibits the use of Title X family planning funds “in programs where abortion is a method of family planning;” and current regulations require some form of separation between federally-funded family planning services and abortions. However, the current regulations do not contain a descriptive standard of what constitutes “separation.” They only require the level of separation to be more than “mere bookkeeping.”

When Title X money goes to clinics that provide both abortions and family planning services, even though the money cannot directly fund abortions, it is being used to offset operational costs with federal funds, freeing up money to promote and provide abortions.