See Who is Cheering for a Congressional Lame-Duck Session…
By Matt Smith
Congress comes back to Washington D.C. this week. They have a lot of unfinished business most importantly being the fact they have not passed appropriations bills for the next fiscal year which begins October 1st and it does not look like they will get them done before running home to campaign. This will force a lame duck session and the pro-abortion lobby led by Planned Parenthood is cheering for Congress to do just that this year.
What happens when Congress has not been getting the job done?
First, they will need to pass some form of a continuing resolution to keep the government running when the new fiscal year begins. Spending remains at the previous year’s levels and there is usually a deadline set for when the resolution expires.
Second, the next likely step is that all the appropriations will be included in one massive omnibus spending bill. When this happens, the appropriations bills in their current form are dropped into different sections of the bill.
The Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services Appropriations bill currently includes the following language:
“Provided further, That of the funds made available under this heading, $327,356,000 shall be for the program under title X of the PHS Act to provide for voluntary family planning projects: Provided further, That amounts provided to said projects under such title shall not be expended for abortions, that all pregnancy counseling shall be nondirective, and that such amounts shall not be expended for any activity (including the publication or distribution of literature) that in any way tends to promote public support or opposition to any legislative proposal or candidate for public office…”
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on May 28, 2010 revealed that the Planned Parenthood Federation of America received $657.1 million in taxpayer dollars from Fiscal Year 2002 to Fiscal Year 2009. The largest source of these funds ($342.1 million) was the Title X family planning program.
In a statement released February 1, 2010 by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said:
“President Obama’s 2011 budget provides more than $327 million to the Title X family planning program, an increase of $9.86 million over the previous year.
“While we welcome the increase in Title X funding, we hope to work with Congress to build on this funding, particularly as Americans continue to deal with difficult economic times. Health centers, like ours, are seeing an increase in the number of women seeking basic preventive care, while at the same time coping with stagnant funding.
“Title X is a vital component of the health care safety net and one of our nation’s most effective programs in reducing unintended pregnancies and providing women’s health care to those who need it the most.”
The language in the appropriations bill is similar to previous years stating the money “shall not be expended for abortions.” As we have seen from the work done by the Live Action youth movement, Planned Parenthoods in Wisconsin and Indiana are actually advocating for abortion all while receiving Title X funding.
According to a factsheet released by Planned Parenthood, the number of abortions provide by Planned Parenthood has increased from 305,310 in 2007 to 324,008 in 2008 while adoption referrals are down to 2,405 in 2008 from 4,912 in 2007. The statement from Cecile Richards says it all – their philosophy is to provide directive pregnancy counseling in the form of “preventative care.”
It was critically important for faithful Catholics to voice their outrage about the abortion funding in the health care reform law. However, Planned Parenthood has already been doing this for years through your tax dollars they receive from Title X.
Matt Smith is Vice President of Catholic Advocate
Check back soon for a Catholic Advocate Voice Action Alert to learn how you can make a difference to stop this version of taxpayer funded abortions.
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