Florida County Denies $10,000 Pro-Abortion Grant for Planned Parenthood 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 7, 2006
Sarasota, FL (LifeNews.com) — County commissioners in Manatee County in southwest Florida voted on Tuesday against a $10,000 grant for a local Planned Parenthood abortion business that had been suggested by the commissions children’s services advisory board.
A voter-approved property tax created in 1991 brings the county about $9 million in funds and the advisory board makes recommendations to county commissioners on how to spend the funds. But they rejected the Planned Parenthood funding proposal.
Commission Chairman Joe McClash made the motion to remove the funding and told the Herald Tribune newspaper that Manatee County "has never supported organizations that fund abortions."
"We’ve never funded Planned Parenthood in the past, and I don’t really see why we would be funding it this year," Commissioner Donna Hayes added.
The board ended up voting 5-1 against the Planned Parenthood funding with Commissioner Gwen Brown as the only pro-abortion vote. Commissioner Pat Glass was absent from the vote, according to the newspaper, but had earlier indicated she supported the funding.
Jennifer Foster, a parent who serves on the board of a local Care Net pregnancy center, said "Manatee County people don’t want it here" in reference to the abortion funding in the budget.
Gary Plum, a father of three in Palmetto, agreed, the newspaper said.
"I just don’t feel that Planned Parenthood should be usurping the authority of parents, going into our schools and teaching my boy how to put on a condom," he said. "When you give a teen an alternative, what is that really saying?"
Barbara Zdravecky, the president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida abortion business, told the newspaper the money would not have been used directly on abortions. She said the funds would have been spent on pregnancy prevention programs targeting teens and at-risk youth.
Zdravecky said the abortion business would try for funding next year, pointing out that it took years to get taxpayer funds from Sarasota County.
Related web sites:
Manatee County Commission – https://www.co.manatee.fl.us
