North Carolina Legislators Look to De-Fund Planned Parenthood

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Apr 18, 2011   |   4:38PM   |   Raleigh, NC

With Congress having failed to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business thanks to Democrats in the Senate, now, North Carolina legislators are looking to yank state taxpayer funding.

House Republicans approved a measure to remove federal funds from the pro-abortion organization, but the Senate declined to follow suit. Less than a week later, Republican state lawmakers in the North Carolina legislature are looking to take Planned Parenthood out of the state budget.

The Raleigh News and Observer newspaper indicates the abortion business receives $473,000 through state family planning programs aimed at reducing teen pregnancies and providing birth control. Although the money can only be used for non-abortion services, the same organization is also the nation’s largest abortion business — doing more than 330,000 annually and comprising more than one-quarter of all abortions in the United States annually.

Rep. Nelson Dollar, chairman of the House appropriation subcommittee for Health and Human Services, told the Raleigh newspaper that the provision cutting funding makes it so the state can’t make any contracts with or provide grant money to Planned Parenthood specifically. He said no one is singling out Planned Parenthood because the tough economy is forcing budget cuts for many organizations and agencies.

“People are free to conjecture as they will,” the legislator told the newspaper. “There are a whole host of programs being reduced. Planned Parenthood is not unique.”

But Rep. Verla Insko, a Democrat from Chapel Hill, complained to the newspaper and said, “I see this cut as really another assault on the poor. These are very reasonable and needed services. Planned Parenthood is a trusted provider, especially with low-income women.”

Planned Parenthood currently runs nine centers across the state and it does abortions in Winston-Salem, Durham and Wilmington, though all of its abortion centers refer for abortions.

ACTION: Contact your North Carolina legislators at https://www.ncga.state.nc.us and urge support for de-funding Planned Parenthood.