Nebraska Legislature Restores Family Planning Funds to Planned Parenthood 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 27, 2006
Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) — The Nebraska legislature has reversed a decision to yank hundreds of thousands of dollars in family planning funds from Planned Parenthood and distribute them to other health care agencies. The pro-life lawmaker who sponsored the change was accused of hiding his original intent.
On Thursday, state lawmakers voted 26-5 to restore the funding.
Sen. Mike Foley put the original provision in the bill that would have made sure state dollars didn’t go to abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood.
With the latest vote, the state family planning program will remain as is and 36 agencies, including Planned Parenthood, will split $519,000 in 2007.
The state Health and Human Services System could still change the rules for the bidding process for the funds to allow other agencies to compete with Planned Parenthood for the money.
Pro-abortion lawmakers attacked Foley for duping them into originally agreeing with his provision. They pointed to an email he sent to supporters saying the provision was to prevent Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs from receiving state funds.
Foley said he had made his views on PPNCB clear during debate of the provision.
Seven senators who previously had supported the amendment changed their votes on the provision. Three of them said they did so in part because they did not trust Foley’s real intentions for the amendment.
Bobbie Kierstad, public policy director for PPNCB, told the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper that the state family planning money represents about 3.4 percent of the abortion businesses current income.
Related web sites:
Nebraska state legislature – https://www.unicam.state.ne.us
Nebraska Right to Life – https://www.nebraskartl.org
