A national pro-life organization has sent more than 100,000 signed petitions to members of the Senate urging them to allow a vote on a bill that would prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions across every department of the federal government.
Signaling that emotions still run high over taxpayer funding of abortions through ObamaCare and directing taxpayer monies to the nation’s biggest abortion business, Planned Parenthood, Concerned Women for America delivered 101,000 petitions from its members to the U.S. Senate last week demanding action on the legislation.
“This issue is long from resolved, and Americans are still fired up that their dollars are funding abortions,” said Penny Nance, CEO of the conservative women’s group.
“It was the issue of abortion that very nearly felled ObamaCare, and it was only when a very small, but powerful group of so-called pro-life Democrats caved at the 11th hour that the massive legislation passed,” continued Nance. “The issue of taxpayer-funded abortion will most certainly be a concern in the upcoming presidential election. Americans don’t want their money funding abortion.”
Nance said polling data shows a large majority, over 60 percent, of Americans — even those who identify themselves as “pro-choice” — do not want their dollars funding abortion. She said that is evidenced by the fact that CWA obtained the signatures in a matter of weeks on the petition.
The petition read in part, “As a pro-life American citizen, I am sickened over continued efforts by the abortion industry to use my tax-dollars to fund the destruction of innocent life. I urge you to use your political position to champion the plight of the unborn in our nation in the following ways: Support any and all legislative efforts to permanently prohibit taxpayer funding for abortion services in the U.S. and abroad. Support a federal ban on the funding of abortion and abortion related services both here and abroad.”
In fact, a January 2010 Quinnipiac University poll found 67 percent of Americans oppose funding abortions with government funds under the government-run health care bill Congress approved. The survey asked: “Do you support or oppose allowing abortions to be paid for by public funds under a health care reform bill?”
Some 67 percent of respondents said no while just 27 percent sided with President Barack Obama and pro-abortion groups favoring abortion funding.
Republicans were opposed to funding on a 87-10 percent margin as were independent voters on a 67-26 percent margin. Democrats were split 47-47 percent on abortion funding in the health care reform legislation. Quinnipiac found men and women about even on the question of opposing abortion funding with men opposing it 65-29 and women oppose it 68-26 percent.
A survey CNN conducted in early April showing Americans oppose public funding of abortion by a margin of 61% to 35%.
Earlier this month, the House passed HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, on a 251-175 vote with Republicans voting 235-0 for the bill and Democrats voting 175-16 against it.
Congressman Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who is the lead sponsor of the bill, informed the House that a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the pro-abortion former research apparatus of Planned Parenthood, released a study noting that one-quarter of women who otherwise would have had abortions chose to give birth when taxpayer dollars were not available to pay for abortions of their children.
“For decades, a patchwork of short-term policies have prevented abortion funding in many programs authorized by Congress, but it is time for a single, government-wide permanent protection against taxpayer funding for elective abortion,” Smith said. “Abortion is lethal violence against children and exploitation of women. This legislation would establish a comprehensive policy prohibiting public funding for elective abortion in all federal programs.”
