An effort by Iowa lawmakers to stop taxpayer dollars from funding the abortion giant Planned Parenthood was blocked in court this week.
The AP reports Fifth Judicial District Judge Paul Scott ruled Wednesday against a state law that prohibits abortion providers from receiving grants for sex education.
Scott said the law is unconstitutional because it violates Planned Parenthood’s right to equal protection.
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the pro-life law after Gov. Kim Reynolds, the first female governor of Iowa, signed it into law in 2019. Earlier, a judge blocked the state from enforcing the law until a final decision could be made about its constitutionality.
In his ruling Wednesday, Scott argued that the law “has no valid, ‘realistic conceivable’ purpose that serves a legitimate government interest as it is both irrationally overinclusive and under-inclusive.”
The Gazette reports the judge also said the law basically singles out Planned Parenthood, which is unconstitutional.
According to the report:
Though Planned Parenthood would be excluded, the law did allow “nonprofit health care delivery systems” to remain eligible for the federal funding, even if they are contracted with or are affiliated with an entity that performs abortions or maintains a facility where abortions are performed.
By doing so, the law effectively singles out Planned Parenthood, but allows other possible grant recipients to provide an array of abortion-related services, according to the court documents.
“The carved-out exception for the ‘nonprofit health care delivery system’ facilities undermines any rationale the State produces of not wanting to be affiliated with or provide funds to organizations that partake in any abortion-related activity,” Scott ruled.
The Iowa affiliate of Planned Parenthood received about $265,000 in federal sex education grants in 2019, according to the Gazette. It received an additional $182,000 this year, according to the report.
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The abortion chain said it provides sex education in 31 schools and 12 youth organizations in Iowa.
In 2019, Iowa lawmakers voted to disqualify abortion providers from the grant program after after hearing a strong outcry from Iowa residents, WHO TV 13 reported previously.
“The HHS budget will continue to provide grants to organizations that provide Iowa students with sex education,” state Rep. Joel Fry told the news outlet at the time. “We are continuing to provide the same level of funding as we have in the past; however, abortion providers will no longer be eligible for grants.
“We have consistently heard from Iowans that they do not want their hard-earned tax dollars used by organizations whose primary business model is providing abortions,” he continued.
Parents across the country have expressed serious concerns and even outrage when they learn that the largest abortion provider in America is teaching sex education to their children.
Planned Parenthood teaches sex education to at least 221,000 students in 31 states, according to CBS News.
Among its worst teaching points, Planned Parenthood tells children that promiscuity is ok. “There’s nothing bad or unhealthy about having a big number of sexual partners,” it tells students on its Tumbler page. Planned Parenthood’s booklet for HIV-positive youth, “Healthy, Happy and Hot,” tells young people that it is their “human right” to not tell their sexual partner that they have HIV.
Numerous communities have rejected Planned Parenthood as a sex education teacher. The whole Massachusetts legislature rejected a bill in 2017 that recommended Planned Parenthood’s middle school sex education curriculum. The program teaches children as young as 12 “how to perform oral and anal sex.”
Concerned parents in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, Washington state, New York, North Carolina and other parts of the country also have protested Planned Parenthood’s involvement in their students’ education in the past several years.
In another recent case, parents at a Pennsylvania school said a Planned Parenthood partner group taught seventh-grade students graphic details about oral sex during a science class.
Meanwhile, according to CBS News, North Carolina parents raised concerns in 2018 about Planned Parenthood’s “Get Real” curriculum. They said it “encourages sixth graders to feel ‘comfortable and ready’ for sex. The petition says the curriculum provides flash cards outlining proper condom usage, for ‘vaginal, oral or anal sex’ and recommends the usage of ‘non-microwavable saran wrap’ as a prophylactic for certain non-reproductive sex acts.”
Many worry that Planned Parenthood uses its sex education programs to push abortion as well. Its former CEO, Leana Wen, made it clear in 2019 that abortion is Planned Parenthood’s “core mission.”
