Bill Would Stop $1 Bill Abortion Groups Get, But Pro-Life Congress Needed
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 17, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Yesterday, a new GAO report revealed the abortion industry received over $1 billion in taxpayer funds from the federal government in the last seven years. A congressman has proposed a bill to begin de-funding the pro-abortion groups, but he needs more pro-life colleagues to move it forward.
As LifeNews.com reported, the Government Accountability Office report shows the Planned Parenthood abortion business reported receiving over $650 million in federal funds over a seven year period.
The report also shows the pro-abortion group Population Council, which sponsored the dangerous abortion drug RU 486, received $284.3 million in federal funds as well for its international family planning efforts. And the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion group that does research on abortion statistics, received $12.7 million.
Congressman Mike Pence has introduced the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (H.R. 614), a bill prohibiting the distribution of Title X family planning money to entities that use abortion as a method of family planning.
With the GAO report showing $342.1 million of the federal funds Planned Parenthood received coming from the Title X family planning program, Pence’s bill would take a big first step in de-funding the abortion industry.
"It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion. But it is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use those funds to promote abortion," Pence told LifeNews.com.
"This report confirms that the largest abortion provider in America is being bankrolled by American taxpayers. In these tough economic times, there is simply no reason why taxpayer money should go to fund the activities of abortion providers and equip them with the resources they need to end innocent human life," he said.
"We must stop providing taxpayer dollars to abortion providers through Title X. We must put an end to Americans unwillingly providing financial support to the abortion industry. The time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood by passing the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act," Pence added.
The bi-partisan bill has 93 co-sponsors but with pro-abortion lawmakers in control of the House, Pence’s measure will likely not come up for a debate and vote.
To move Pence’s bill forward, pro-life advocates would have to switch control of the House to Republicans, as GOP House leaders are pro-life and would give Pence’s measure a hearing and vote.
Although the federal funds don’t pay for abortions directly, because of the Hyde amendment, Pence says the bill is needed because the $1 billion allows pro-abortion groups to use other funds for abortion performance and promotion.
"When Title X money goes to clinics that provide both abortions and family planning services, even though the money cannot directly fund abortions, it is being used to offset operational costs with federal funds, freeing up money to promote and provide abortions," he said.
The congressman said the current regulations do not contain a descriptive standard of what constitutes "separation." They only require the level of separation to be more than "mere bookkeeping."
Related web sites:
GAO study – https://gao.gov/products/GAO-10-533R
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