Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of Representatives, today, voted 247-183 against an amendment that would stop sending taxpayer funding to the Planned Parenthood abortion business. Rep. Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican behind the amendment, says public funds should not go to a business that does abortions.

The House Rules Committee made the vote in order after denying votes on other pro-life amendments that would have stopped more direct taxpayer funding of abortion.

But when lawmakers voted, not enough Democrats joined with the majority of Republicans to stop taxpayer funds from going to Planned Parenthood, which does more than 25 percent of the abortions in the U.S. every year.

The Pence amendment came as members of Congress were considering the Labor/HHS Appropriations Bill.

“It is morally wrong to destroy innocent human life through abortion, but it is also morally wrong to take the tax dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote or perform abortions at home or abroad. The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X," Pence said during the debate.

"Federal funding should reflect the values of the majority of the American people and this House now has the opportunity and obligation to close this offensive loophole," he continued.

“The right to life is not a partisan issue, it is a moral one. The time has come for this Congress to come together in a bipartisan way to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and to defend the rights of the taxpayer; The time has come to deny any and all federal funding for the Planned Parenthood," Pence added.

The most recent annual report shows Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, received $350 million in taxpayer dollars from state, local and federal governments.

The Pence amendment says “None of the funds made available under this Act shall be available to Planned Parenthood for any purpose under Title X of the Public Health Services Act.”

The amendment does not cut any funding from the family planning program, which also funds legitimate medical services like breast cancer screenings and pregnancy help, but ensures none of the money goes to the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

That the Rules Committee would allow a vote is surprising given that it prevent pro-life amendments stopping the direct taxpayer funding of abortions that President Barack Obama wanted in the District of Columbia and overseas.

Also, last week, Democratic leaders manipulated a vote on rules that prevented consideration of an amendment to stop tax-funded abortions in the nation's capital.

Looking at its most recent report, the total government grants and contracts received by PPFA affiliates from government sources increased from $337 million to $350 million in fiscal year 2007-2008.

At the same time, abortions increased to 305,310 abortions up from 289,750 in 2006. Looking at Planned Parenthood data from 1997 to the present, the increase in government funding corresponds with an increase in the number of abortions. (See image)

In 1997, Planned Parenthood did about 160,000 abortions and received approximately $160 million in total taxpayer funding from various levels of government. Both the number of abortions and the amount of money received from government, supposedly for family planning to reduce abortions, has double since then.

ACTION: See how your member of Congress voted by going here. Call 202-224-3121 or go to http://www.House.gov to respond to the vote.

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