Conservatives Can Find Unity on Cutting Abortion Funding

Opinion   |   Maura Butler   |   Mar 15, 2011   |   11:48AM   |   Washington, DC

Times are tough.  Money is tight.  Jobs are scarce.  But the government is bloated.  The federal budget has been the topic of conversation in Washington and most people agree cuts must be made. 

With all this talk of truces on social issues, can’t fiscal and social conservatives just get along?  Yes, we can and we can start by cutting funding for Planned Parenthood.

From National Review’s The Corner:

For economic and social conservatives alike, Rep. Mike Pence’s Planned Parenthood defunding amendment is a defining moment. The facts are so familiar that the emergency they represent can be lost in special interest politics, but they are worth rehearsing one more time. President Obama has added $3 trillion to the federal debt over the past two years. The current fiscal year is nearly halfway gone. When it’s over another $1.6 trillion will be added to the tab our nation is running up for its children and grandchildren.

As Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List recently said, “If Congress can’t cut off taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, a willing partner of the exploitation of women and young girls, how can it be serious about cutting spending anywhere else?” 

A few weeks ago, the House passed the Continuing Resolution’s (CR) Pence Amendment that would deny all taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood through September.  However, the Senate reconfigured the CR and sent it back to the House without the Pence Amendment.  Now another House vote is immanent but without and cuts to Planned Parenthood.  Over 70 percent of Americans agree abortions should not be federally funded.  And the argument that taxpayer dollars don’t directly fund abortions is weak.  We all know money is fungible such that the more money Planned Parenthood receives from the government, the more its other sources of income are freed up for abortions.  Taxpayers deserve better. 

To this end, the Susan B. Anthony List just finished a four-day bus tour featuring press conferences with local pro-life leaders in 11 cities throughout Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island and New Hampshire thanking Members who voted for Rep. Mike Pence’s amendment to defund Planned Parenthood in the CR and targeting those who voted against it. Congress needs to get real and quit extending stopgap measures and Americans need the Pence amendment in the permanent CR. 

Tell your Members of Congress the current CR lacks an essential component – the Pence Amendment – by going here.  Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the country.  It’s about time we shouldn’t have to forcibly participate in the evil of abortion simply by paying our taxes.