Senate Bill Amdt Would Strip Tax Funds From Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 3, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Senator David Vitter is making good on his promise to continue his fight to prevent taxpayers from having their money sent from the federal government to the nation’s biggest abortion business. When the Senate considers its spending bill this week, he will propose cutting Planned Parenthood funding.
While the money Planned Parenthood receives from Title X funds doesn’t pay for abortions directly, Vitter says it still helps the abortion business.
Vitter says it is "outlandish" that current federal regulations do not make Planned Parenthood separate the federal funds it receives for family planning from its abortion business money.
"This ambiguity has allowed organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, to receive large sums of federal funding for ‘reproductive health activity’ programs and often channel these federal dollars to clinics that perform abortions to pay for overhead expenses like electricity bills and office support staff -– freeing up other funds for abortions," he said.
"The federal government should not use taxpayer dollars to pay for acts that so many Americans find morally wrong. And my amendment would have closed a loophole for taxpayer funded abortions," Vitter said.
Planned Parenthood, as it always is when Vitter tries to turn off the spigot, is up in arms.
"Planned Parenthood needs your help — right now. Anti-choice Sen. David Vitter has introduced an amendment to the Appropriations bill currently being debated in the Senate that would strip federal Title X family planning funding from Planned Parenthood," its president Cecile Richards complained.
"Vitter’s amendment is just the latest in a long string of attacks against Planned Parenthood — and potentially the most devastating. By attempting to deny Title X family planning funding to our health centers, he and his anti-choice allies are making themselves absolutely clear: their goal is to shut down every Planned Parenthood health center in America," she complains.
Richards complains that now is the wrong time to cut Planned Parenthood funding — appearing to allude that they need more abortions because of the poor economy.
"This is the worst possible time for these outrageous attacks. More and more people are losing their jobs and their health insurance — and that means that … Planned Parenthood [abortion centers] are more important than ever," she said.
The last time the Senate voted on his amendment, it was defeated 52-41.
ACTION: Contact your members of the Senate and urge strong support for the Wicker amendment to cut funding for the pro-abortion UNFPA. You can find contact information for any senator at https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
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