The radical pro-abortion group NARAL sees no problem with what AmeriCorps did when it used tax dollars to promote abortions in violation of federal laws. NARAL wants to overturn those laws and force taxpayers to pay for abortions.
Earlier this week, a federal inspector general revealed that six members of the taxpayer-funded service program had helped women get abortions at community health centers in New York City, LifeNews reported. Because AmeriCorps is taxpayer-funded, abortion is a prohibited activity in the program.
Pro-life leaders in Congress are calling for further investigation into the violations, but NARAL is responding with its own pro-abortion campaign, The Hill reports.
“Americorps volunteers work to strengthen communities that need it most, but they’re prevented by law from providing complete information about ALL reproductive health care options to women who need it,” the pro-abortion group said Thursday on its Facebook page.
Here is more from the report:
NARAL Pro-Choice America is launching a national campaign to repeal the so-called gag rule that prevents service-oriented groups, including AmeriCorps, from promoting or supporting abortions in any way.
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“Banning Americorps volunteers from referring women for abortion services is yet another abhorrent example of this unfair targeting of low-income women,” NARAL Vice President Sasha Bruce wrote in a letter to supporters, provided to The Hill.
The group is organizing a petition to Congress, which it will promote in letters to supporters as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
Forcing taxpayers to fund abortions is high on abortion activists’ priority list. NARAL, Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups have been focusing their efforts on overturning the Hyde Amendment, which has long protected Americans from funding most abortions. Upheld by the Supreme Court, the Hyde Amendment is now a target of abortion advocates who have moved from pro-choice to pro-abortion — forcing Americans not only to accept unlimited abortions before birth but also to pay for them. Hillary Clinton promised to overturn Hyde and force taxpayers to fund abortions if she is elected president.
However, polls consistently show that a majority of Americans, even those who identify as pro-choice, oppose forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions. A 2014 CNN poll found 56 percent opposed using public funds for abortions, while 39 percent were in favor.
AmeriCorps leaders said they ended the abortion program quickly when they discovered the violation, but many pro-lifers have concerns beyond just AmeriCorps. U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts, R-Pennsylvania, said he was troubled when he learned that taxpayer-funded community health centers also are promoting abortions.
“Yesterday we learned that Community Health Centers have allowed AmeriCorps volunteers to participate in abortions as ‘abortion doulas,’ despite repeated assurances from Community Health Centers that their clinics do not provide abortions to their patients, and that their clinics had no plans to do so,” Pitts said in a statement earlier this week. “Additionally, yesterday’s report indicates the Program Director for the National Association of Community Health Centers ignored AmeriCorps rules regarding abortion and allowed rule violations to continue for two years.
“We placed trust in these Centers as providers of life affirming women’s health care, committed to not entangling such care with abortion. This is an outrageous violation of trust.”
Pitts and U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, are calling for further investigation into the matter.
