The Planned Parenthood abortion chain received a no-strings-attached $1 million gift from the Fresno City Council this fall to fund its life-destroying work.
Writing at the Fresno Bee last week, John Gerardi, executive director of Right to Life of Central California, said the city council has a responsibility to taxpayers to use their money well.
But instead of addressing real health care needs in the city, the council gave money to the billion-dollar abortion chain. Gerardi said documents obtained through open records request show Planned Parenthood is allowed to use the money for basically any reason without accountability, including for elective abortions.
“While advocates at the time argued it was for uncontroversial services like cancer screenings, records newly released by the City Attorney’s Office show that the money can fund abortion directly, and that the city is exercising no oversight over the funding whatsoever,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, “the San Joaquin Valley faces massive health-care challenges, particularly in the area of prenatal care for lower-income women (a service that Planned Parenthood’s Fulton Street clinic does not provide),” he continued.
Here’s more from Gerardi’s investigation:
In Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula’s request for state budgetary assistance, the lawmaker gave a nonexhaustive list of items that would be part of a full-scale clinic “renovation”: ADA-compliant exam tables (roughly $5,000 apiece), ultrasound probes ($1,000 apiece) and a remodeling of the medical records room to afford more office space for providers. These items hardly amount to $1 million.
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In the end, the City Council approved the funding “for reproductive health for the Central Valley and for health center renovations,” with no further specifications or limitations.
Notably, Mayor Jerry Dyer vetoed the funding, but the council overrode his decision.
California politicians have been dumping huge amounts of money into the abortion industry this year. In June, the supervisors of San Mateo County also gave $1 million to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion chain.
Even worse, Gov. Gavin Newsom budgeted an additional $145 million specifically for abortions this year. The money is slated for elective abortions for women whose insurance does not cover it, government promotion of abortion, travel and lodging expenses for women who have to travel for abortions and incentives for medical students to become abortionists.
Newsom said abortion is one of California’s “values,” and he will “fight like hell” to “protect it.” He also wants California to be an abortion destination for women from pro-life states that protect unborn babies from abortion.
These politicians’ actions do not help women or families. They are not even pro-choice; they actively promote the killing of unborn babies in abortions and do nothing to help pregnancy resource centers that support mothers and babies in need.
The money and efforts could go a long way toward actually helping families, such as expanding prenatal care and other basic medical care to reduce infant and maternal mortality, financial and housing assistance, education, counseling and more. But California leaders want to support abortion instead.
More unborn babies are being aborted as a result of California’s radical pro-abortion laws. A recent report from the Guttmacher Institute shows an 8-percent increase in abortions nation-wide from 2017 to 2020, with the biggest jumps in California, Illinois and other Democrat-led states that have been aggressive about passing pro-abortion legislation.
California has very few limits on abortion, and it forces taxpayers to pay for them. A new law slated to go into effect next year will force all public colleges and universities to provide abortions on campus. Newsom and Democrat lawmakers also are working closely with the abortion industry to expand abortions in other ways.
