Members of the Michigan state House passed a bill to protect taxpayers from being on the hook paying for the nation’s largest abortion business to do business. The legislative chamber approved a bill to ban taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood.
Organizations like Planned Parenthood wouldn’t be able to contract with the state of Michigan under a $37.86 billion budget passed by the House of Representatives Tuesday.
Representatives passed the general government budget by a vote of 59-51, with Republican Reps. Todd Courser, Cindy Gamrat, Martin Howrylak and Joel Johnson joining Democrats in voting against the budget. The budget includes about $8 billion from the state’s general fund.
The Michigan Senate is still working on its own budget; eventually members of both chambers will meet to form a single proposal to send to Gov. Rick Snyder.
Amendment WW adopted Tuesday would amend state law to keep the state from contracting “with an organization which provides elective abortions, abortion counseling or abortion referrals.” The amendment also bans organizations under contract with the state from contracting with the same types of organizations.
Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, said multiple members of the House Republican caucus expressed concern about state dollars going to support Planned Parenthood.
In the last two budgets, zero state dollars have gone to that organization, he said. House Republicans wanted to make sure that, in the future, that wouldn’t change, he said.
“The concern is that there may be some discretion at the department level as to whether this could be allowed going forward,” he said. “And so, this is just greater assurance by making an amendment to add some boilerplate language.”
In December, the abortion giant Planned Parenthood released its 2013 annual report and the new numbers indicate it did more abortions than the year before — killing 327,653 babies in abortions while taking in millions in taxpayer funds. The report indicates Planned Parenthood did 327,653 abortions in 2013, an increase over the 327,166 abortions it did in 2012.
While it remains America’s biggest abortion corporation, the “nonprofit” continued to make money — bringing in $305.4 million last year and $305.3 million this year. Planned Parenthood continued to receive over a half-billion dollars in taxpayer money, as it took in $540 million in 2012 and $528 million in 2013.
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Some other takeaways from Planned Parenthood’s own figures:
- In 2013, abortions made up 94% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy services.
- For every adoption referral, Planned Parenthood performed 174 abortions.
- While abortions rose, Planned Parenthood adoption referrals dropped 14% in one year, and prenatal care services dropped 4%.
- Planned Parenthood’s cancer prevention services are down 17% over one year, and contraceptive services dropped by 4%.
- During fiscal year 2013-2014, Planned Parenthood received more than $528 million in taxpayer funding, or more than $1.4 million per day, in the form of government grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements.
- Taxpayer funding accounts for 41% of Planned Parenthood’s overall revenue.
- Planned Parenthood reported more than $127 million in excess revenue, and more than $1.4 billion in net assets.
After reviewing the report, SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelsertold LifeNews:
“The abortion rate may be declining across America, but not in Planned Parenthood clinics. Their latest annual report is fresh evidence that Planned Parenthood remains an abortion-centered, profit-driven business. In 2013, Planned Parenthood upped the number of abortions they performed to 327,653. Meanwhile, their already limited cancer screenings, prenatal services, adoption referrals – and even contraception services – continue to drop. Planned Parenthood claims to be an altruistic health care provider for women and girls but their bottom line is all about abortion.”
