Planned Parenthood Assaults Senate to Keep Massive Funding

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 3, 2011   |   11:32AM   |   Washington, DC

The Planned Parenthood abortion business has launched an all-out assault on the U.S. Senate to lobby senators to oppose any attempt to add an amendment to any government funding bill that would yank its taxpayer funding.

The House has already approved the Pence Amendment and pro-life groups are putting pressure on senators to follow suit by adding a similar amendment to the long-term continuing resolution that would fund the federal government to the latter part of the year.

In a new email sent to its members and supporters, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards claims that, since the February 18 vote in the House for the Pence Amendment, “more than 700,000 women and men have signed an open letter to stand with Planned Parenthood” that has gone to members of the Senate.

“We’ve made an impact. And, as the Senate considers its course on this legislation, we have the chance to make an even bigger impact. We have a chance to stop it — but we need your help,” she writes, hoping more than one million people will sign the letter on its web site asking the Senate to oppose attempts to de-fund the abortion business.

“In my years working with Planned Parenthood, I’ve never seen so many people so ready to fight for women’s health. The messages of support, the rallies, the calls, the signs, the photographs, the videos — you have done so very much for us and with us,” Richards says.

Richards talked with Politico about the massive lobbying effort and said, “Going after the strongest brand in women’s health in America is one of the stupidest things the Republican Party could have done. They’ve personalized this for women and for young people, and it has created an enormous wave of activity.”

But Pence spokesman Matt Lloyd told Politico most Americans are on the side of those seeking to revoke federal funding for the abortion business that has been caught repeatedly on video helping alleged sex traffickers obtain abortions for the girls they victimized.

“The majority of Americans are opposed to using their tax dollars to fund abortions at home and abroad,” he said. “Therefore, Congressman Pence believes the majority of Americans will also agree that the nation’s largest abortion provider should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X.”

Planned Parenthood is hoping to make its case to senators with a new poll — but a disingenuous one that never mentions the word abortion.

The Democratic firm Public Policy Polling conducted the survey for the abortion business and touted the few non-abortion services Planned Parenthood provides and then asked respondents, who typically skew towards the Democratic Party in most PPP polls, whether Planned Parenthood’s federal funding should be cut. With that set up, naturally 57 percent of voters opposed barring federal funding for Planned Parenthood — but 36 percent still supported it even with the biased poll wording and sample.

Residents of Missouri and Arkansas were most likely to favor cutting Planned Parenthood funding while voters in Massachusetts were most opposed to it.

The pro-life side is not giving up the fight just because Planned Parenthood has a $1 billion dollar budget to use to lobby the Senate.

On Tuesday night, 2,627 people joined together for the Susan B. Anthony List’s “Defunding Planned Parenthood” urgent nationwide webcast where Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave and 40 Days for Life National Director David Bereit guided pro-life advocates in how they can lobby Congress against funding the abortion business.

Next week, Musgrave and SBA List leaders will hit the road to visit congressional districts across the country. They’ll travel to Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire to call on members of Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and thank those Representatives that have stood firm in their commitment to Life.

ACTION: Contact your senators at https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and urge strong support for the Pence Amentment de-funding Planned Parenthood.