Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new national campaign sponsored by the Family Research Council is targeting the taxpayer funding that goes to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business. The group is urging state lawmakers to ditch funding saying the abortion business is flush with cash.

During a difficult economic time, FRC says there is no reason for state and local governments to send public funds to an abortion business.

In what it is calling its largest ever nationwide project, the pro-life group has sent a letter to every state legislator in the nation asking them to vote to reduce funding for Planned Parenthood in their state budgets.

With a $1 billion budget and a $114 million operating surplus, Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs, tells Religion News Service that Planned Parenthood doesn't need the bailout.

“Planned Parenthood has proven that they don't need federal or state handouts,” he said. “During these economic times, when states are rethinking their investments, subsidizing abortion is probably not the kind of thing that they want to be known for.”

The abortion business gets $337 million in public funding to run its 880 abortion and family planning centers and even if a small percentage of that funding is dropped, that's fewer dollars Planned Parenthood has to do abortions and promote its agenda.

But Planned Parenthood isn't going to let its revenue stream be siphoned off without a fight.

RNS says the abortion business has developed its own public relations ploy to use in pleading with elected officials to keep the money rolling in.

“Public funding of family planning services is an investment in prevention care that has numerous dividends,” Tait Sye, spokesperson for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told the news service. "Cutting public funding of family planning is bad public policy, will leave even more women without access to vital health care services, and will lead to increased health care costs for the state.”

Cutting funding for the pro-abortion group won't be easy because so much of it is hidden in subcontracts with a state health department.

Other funding is approved by a gubernatorial administration or bureaucrats and not necessarily in a state budget that can be cut with an amendment.

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