February 2020 – Article 1:
“Laissez les bon temps rouler” (Let the good times roll) is the motto of New Orleans.
It also could be Planned Parenthood’s because business is good.
Proudly claiming it overcame increased political and legal “challenges” with “resolve,” the nation’s largest abortion mill’s latest annual report is stunning:
- It performed 345,672 abortions in 2018, up nearly 4% from 2017.
- The total represents 40% of the 862,000 reported abortions performed in the United States.
- That translates to 947 per day, 39 each hour, and one every 91 seconds.
- The organization received $616.8 million in taxpayer funds in 2018, a startling $110,000 over its expenses.
- Up from nearly $564 million in 2017
More Abortions and Still More Tax Dollars
The total number of abortions reported nationally continues to decline, however the results clearly show that Planned Parenthood is cornering the market on killing innocent children and doesn’t deserve a penny of taxpayer dollars.
That fact is reinforced by the organization’s announcement it will spend $45 million to elect pro-abortion candidates this year. Since the organization can easily move money around, I wonder if that includes any of the $616 million of tax dollars?
The report also demonstrates another unfortunate reality—so-called pro-life lawmakers still have not lived up to repeated promises to defund the abortion giant.
“The pro-life community needs to wake up,” charged Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) President Ricardo Davis. “Until we get serious about holding elected officials accountable, we will never stop feeding this monster with public funds.
“Sadly political considerations—instead of concern for the pre-born—always carry the day”, Davis added.
Token Efforts to Defund Planned Parenthood
To date, there’s only been token efforts to keep Planned Parenthood from receiving tax dollars.
A recently approved regulation prevents the organization from using $60 million of Title X Family Planning dollars to refer women for an abortion. As a result, Planned Parenthood voluntarily withdrew from the program.
In addition, another new rule scheduled to go in effect this June will make it more difficult for Obamacare plans to fund abortion by requiring insurers to issue separate bills for the portion of customers’ premiums that cover abortion.
The rule was necessary because many Obamacare participants receive federal subsidies to help pay for their plans.
But all of this represents pocket change compared to the ever increasing amount of public funding the organization continues to reap.
The obvious question is how is this possible with so many politicians promising to end the practice?
How is it that animal rights groups can gain widespread public support, but pro-life lawmakers can’t energize a majority of Americans to demand an end to the nation’s largest abortion provider from feeding at the public trough?
A 2019 article in National Review makes some incisive observations.
The article blames the failure on lack of an effective strategy and poor messaging.
“Taxpayer-funded abortion is unpopular with most Americans, and yet Planned Parenthood maintains a strong reputation as a health-care organization,” the article says.
“Closing that gap, strategists say, requires Republicans to rebut the notion that a defunding effort is an attack on women’s rights and to present it as a diversion of money to community health centers that offer more health care and don’t perform abortions,” it adds.
The article asserts that Republicans have failed to: “force legislators to step out from behind the euphemism of ‘women’s health care’ and openly defend the notion that taxpayers should not subsidize organizations that profit from ending innocent human lives.”
Looking forward, the article concludes: “As the Democratic Party increasingly demands laws permitting abortion up to the moment of birth, GOP politicians have an opportunity to expose the left as being radically out of step with most Americans on this issue. It is a pivotal moment for Republicans to realize that show votes and judges are no replacement for an anti-abortion electoral strategy.”
Will you help? Will you demand that elected officials live up to their promise to end public funding of abortion? Will you encourage other pro-life supporters and your church to do the same?
Please! We’ve let politicians off the hook for too long.
Sources: nationalreview.com; lifesitenews.com; washingtonexaminer.com; liveaction.org; breakpoint.org.
By Wayne DuBois
Georgia Right to Life
Media Relations Advisor