De-Fund Planned Parenthood Abortion Business, Members of Congress Say

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 10, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

De-Fund Planned Parenthood Abortion Business, Members of Congress Say

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 10
, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — On Wednesday night, several members of Congress lined up on the floor of the House of Representatives and issued a call for de-funding Planned Parenthood. They said taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund the abortion business — even if the money doesn’t directly go towards abortions.

Reps. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota and Chris Smith of New Jersey, both Republicans, organized the special order speeches.

In her testimony on the House floor, Bachmann referenced recent reports highlighting Planned Parenthood’s targeting more affluent young women in her congressional district.

A Wall Street Journal article also cited opening of “express centers in wealthy Minnesota suburbs” with the purposes of appealing to women who are “already doing their grocery shopping, picking up their Starbucks, living their daily lives.”

Bachmann criticized Planned Parenthood for turning abortion into an industry and controlling it much the same way other corporations are accused of controlling other sectors of the economy.

“They are big business. They are the Wal-Mart of big abortion,” she said. “They are the big box retailer. It’s time to end their tax exempt status. It’s a fraud. It is time to stop the public financing of Planned Parenthood — it is the right thing to do.”

The members of Congress noted how Planned Parenthood is supposed to operate as a nonprofit group, yet, according to its latest annual report, the abortion business posted total revenues of $1,017,900,000 – over one billion dollars.

Nearly one third of that, $336.7 million, came from “government grants and contracts.”

The pro-life representatives chided abortion advocates in the Democratic Congressional leadership for approving a $17 million increase in federal taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood through the Title X Program.

Responding to the call, Marjorie Dannenfelser, the head of the pro-life women’s political group known as the Susan B. Anthony List President, said the funding was a sham because Planned Parenthood’s family planning work isn’t reducing abortions.

“The idea that Planned Parenthood cares one wit about reducing the ‘need for abortion’ is absurd,” she told LifeNews.com.

“But even if this were a sincere claim on their part, they have failed miserably by their own measure. The number of abortions Planned Parenthood performs continually rises, this year reaching 290,000," she explained.

"It is past time to de-fund Planned Parenthood," Dannenfelser concluded.

According to its own figures, Planned Parenthood does approximately 20 percent of all abortions done nationwide.

Other members participating in the special order speeches included Reps. Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania), Paul Broun, MD (R-Georgia), Trent Franks (R-Arizona), Jeb Hensarling (R-Arizona), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado), Mike Pence (R-Indiana), Bill Sali (R-Idaho) and Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio).


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