Though Planned Parenthood is reporting record revenues and its patient numbers are down, some government leaders still are insisting on giving it hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money.
President Donald Trump has defunded the abortion group of several streams of revenue, including through the Title X grant program. But most of Planned Parenthood’s $500 million in annual taxpayer funding comes from the decisions of federal, state and local government leaders.
In Michigan last week, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners decided to give $100,000 to Planned Parenthood to counteract its loss of Title X family planning money, Michigan Radio reports.
Title X grants are supposed to help low-income individuals receive birth control, cancer screenings and other health care services. While the tax money cannot be used to pay for abortions, it indirectly funds Planned Parenthood’s vast abortion business.
Nationally, Planned Parenthood refused $60 million in Title X funds earlier this year after Trump implemented a new rule requiring that grantees stop providing abortions or completely separate their abortion businesses from their actual health services.
Some local and state governments are defying the rule by giving more local tax money to Planned Parenthood.
Washtenaw County Commissioner Katie Scott told the local news that the one-time allocation will support women’s reproductive health care.
“Reproductive health isn’t adjunct to health, it is health for women, and so we want to make sure we continue to provide those services here in Washtenaw County,” she said.
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Scott said they think other Michigan counties plan to send tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, too.
“It’s my understanding that Oakland County is,” she said. “I know that Planned Parenthood was talking to local governments about trying to help them get some money into that program to continue this vital work in our community.”
Right to Life of Michigan questioned the commissioners’ priorities in choosing to fund Planned Parenthood, rather than their own local health department.
“Planned Parenthood’s last reported profit was $244.8 million! They can afford to pay for Washtenaw County’s entire mental health budget and still turn a 9-digit profit, but Washtenaw Co. had to give them $100k instead of just giving that all to their own health department?” the pro-life organization responded on Twitter.
It is not just the Washtenaw County Commissioners. Cash-strapped Illinois voted to force taxpayers to fund elective abortions in 2017, and in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom went against his own state Department of Finance’s recommendations and signed a financially burdensome bill in October to force college campuses to provide abortions for free to students.
New Jersey lawmakers soon may be voting on a bill to give more money to Planned Parenthood as well.
Abortions, the “core mission” of Planned Parenthood, are not health care, and the abortion chain is not hurting for cash. Its most recent annual report shows a record $1.66 billion in revenue and 332,757 abortions. Meanwhile, its yearly reports show that Planned Parenthood’s patient numbers and actual health services are down.
Community health centers vastly outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities and provide more comprehensive medical services to low-income individuals across the country. They still have access to Title X funds.
Action: Contact the Washtenaw County Commissioners.
