A Nebraska Democrat who claims to be Catholic wrote a column this week urging her state to continue funding the largest abortion chain in America, Planned Parenthood.
The Grand Island Independent published the column by Ellen Moore, chair of the Catholic Democrats of Nebraska Bellevue, as the legislature debates a bill that would prohibit Title X tax dollars from being distributed to any organization that “performs, assists with the performance of, provides directive counseling in favor of, or refers for abortion.”
Despite her claims of being Catholic, Moore supports an group that works in direct opposition to Catholic Church teachings about the sanctity of life and religious freedom.
Moore claimed too many legislators fail to see “the humanity of Planned Parenthood’s impact on women’s lives.” She brought up the tragic stories of two women who received help from the abortion chain after facing discrimination and abuse.
One was a young rape victim whose roommate took her to Planned Parenthood for “services” – what specifically Moore did not mention.
“Planned Parenthood also referred her to community services which her mother credits with saving her life,” she wrote.
Interestingly, another story she mentioned had to do with helping a woman escape a coerced abortion. Planned Parenthood has a record of ignoring coerced abortions, and studies indicate about 60 percent of abortions are coerced.
“Planned Parenthood should not be demonized by targeted legislation. They don’t promote abortion. They support women,” Moore concluded.
But she could not be more wrong. Abortion is a primary focus of the abortion chain. It performs about one third of all abortions in the United States, about 320,000 per year. And Planned Parenthood’s own annual reports show its non-abortion services and patient numbers in rapid decline, while its abortion numbers remain steady.
In Nebraska, Planned Parenthood receives about $300,000 in Title X taxpayer funding every year, according to the Nebraska Catholic Conference, which supports the legislation.
The abortion chain’s Nebraska affiliate defended its funding in a comment to the AP:
Meg Mikolajczyk of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland said Tuesday that 28,000 low-income women in Nebraska rely on the health care funding each year. She says the money in question is never used for abortions. Federal law already prohibits it.
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However, Planned Parenthood still can qualify for the funding if it stops aborting unborn babies. It also can qualify if it completely separates its abortion business from its health care services.
“Nebraska is a pro-life state, so our budget should reflect our values. Any organization can have access to these dollars as long as they don’t provide abortions,” Gov. Pete Ricketts said earlier this year.
Ricketts also praised a law signed by President Donald Trump that makes it easier for states to defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups. The law overturned a rule by pro-abortion President Barack Obama forcing states to fund abortion groups.
In recent years, several states have opted to direct Title X family planning grants to county health departments, community health centers and other types of comprehensive health care providers, in preference to organizations engaged in objectionable activities such as Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion business in America.
If the legislation passes, the tax dollars would go to community health centers that provide more comprehensive health care but not abortions. At the national level, one survey found that community health centers not only provide more comprehensive health care than Planned Parenthood, excluding abortions, they also outnumber the abortion group’s facilities by 20 to one.
