California Pro-Life Advocates Continue Lobbying Against Tax-Funding of Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 25, 2009
Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) — With the massive budget and economic problems continuing in California, pro-life advocates are seizing the opportunity to step up efforts to stop taxpayer funding of abortion. As California public officials struggle with keeping the state government solvent, they say cutting abortion funding is one helpful step.
The California Catholic Conference is one of several pro-life groups lobbying government officials to cut funding to the Planned Parenthood abortion business as a logical fiscal step.
"California public officials are struggling with the budget deficit crisis and a multitude of difficult decisions about how our State collects and spends public money for the common good. Currently on the table are cuts that impact all aspects of government-funded services," the pro-life group said in a Wednesday action alert.
"Medi-Cal pays for 39 percent of all abortions in California. Planned Parenthood organizations receive one-third of their funding from government grants and contracts," it added.
The state spends more than $33 million to pay for the abortions of poor women even though main abortion business Planned Parenthood brought in $1 billion in revenue last year.
Every year, pro-life advocates have tried to amend the state budget to remove the funding for as many as 95,000 abortions annually. That’s about 8 percent of the total number of abortions done nationwide — and all paid for at the expense of California taxpayers.
The California Catholic Conference asked pro-life advocates in the state to "let your representative know of your opposition to the public funding of abortion."
"In the budget negotiations, the California Catholic Conference has consistently advocated for those who are poor and vulnerable – including pre-born children. Join us in this effort," it said.
The group is specifically asking that Planned Parenthood not be exempted from budget cuts and that legislators be vigilant in reviewing "budget trailer" bill language so Planned Parenthood does not gain a clear advantage in accessing these funds.
At minimum, the group hopes that women who receive taxpayer-funded abortions be given information about alternatives, that the state not pay for more than one abortion in a calendar year, and that language be put in place in the budget prohibiting funding coerced or pressured abortions.
"Many moral considerations underlie the budget decisions being made by the California Legislature, but the most fundamental moral problem of all is the use of public funds to kill our pre-born children," the Catholic Conference said.
The California Pro-Life Council is also lobbying for a cutoff of taxpayer funded abortions and is sponsoring a new petition to call on state government officials, specifically pro-abortion Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to stop using state money for them.
"California state government is the state’s largest single funder of the abortion industry," the group said in an email to LifeNews.com.
The pro-life organization blames Schwarzenegger for running for governor as a moderate on abortion but never doing anything to stop taxpayer-funded abortions since his election.
Related web sites:
California Catholic Conference – https://www.cacatholic.org
California Pro-Life Council – https://www.californiaprolife.org
CPLC petition – https://www.californiaprolife.org/petitions/Budget_09_Petition.pdf
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