We are in the final days of President Obama’s tenure as the most anti-Life commander-in-chief of our nation’s history. As the administration looks to secure his legacy, Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released new federal regulations attempting to thwart Pro-Life states from defunding Planned Parenthood. In a press release, HHS stated:
In the past several years, a number of states have taken actions to restrict participation by certain types of providers as subrecipients in the Title X Program, unrelated to the provider’s ability to provide family planning services. This has caused limitations in the geographic distribution of services and decreased access to services.
The final rule clarifies the Title X program regulations by adding that no grant recipient making subawards for the provision of services as part of its Title X project may prohibit an entity from participating for reasons other than its ability to provide Title X services.
The Title X Program is a federal initiative to fund family planning services and preventative care for low-income women.
Texas and several other Pro-Life states have taken steps to exclude Planned Parenthood affiliates and other organizations that commit abortions from receiving Title X funds and taxpayer dollars from other funding streams. Texas legislators redirected millions of dollars from the abortion industry in 2011 to life-affirming initatives and put in place Pro-Life rules on multiple family planning programs, including the Title X program.
In response to Texas’ strong Pro-Life budget changes, the Obama Administration seized the grant from the State of Texas, circumventing the state government, and gave the Title X funding directly to a group of providers in Texas including Planned Parenthood. The Obama Administration has already tried to derail Texas’ efforts to keep taxpayer dollars from the abortion giant, yet that did not slow Texas Right to Life or our Pro-Life champion legislators.
In 2015, the Texas Legislature voted to remove Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses from the Breast & Cervical Cancer Screening Program (BCCS). 2016 saw Texas move closer to finally removing Planned Parenthood entirely from any funding in Texas, however the job is not finished.
Right now, Planned Parenthood still receives hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in Texas that the state legislature has the authority to redirect. Texas Right to Life looks to finish the defunding effort in 2017.
Amid the defunding movement, anti-Life activists are quick to note that federal dollars cannot directly pay for abortions. This is a specious argument. In her provocatively titled article, “Obama Just Gave Unborn Babies the Middle Finger on His Way Out the Door,” Bre Payton of the Federalist writes:
Federal law stipulates that tax dollars cannot fund abortions, yet a growing number of states and lawmakers are concerned that federal funds going to contraception clinics that also provide abortions is enabling the provision of abortion. Funds are fungible, which means that once an entity gets its hands on taxpayer dollars, the government no longer has control over how exactly that money is spent.
Money that goes to organizations that commit abortions funds the killing of the preborn, whether directly or not. Taxpayers should have the right to demand that their money is sent to legitimate health care providers.
Lest we forget, Obama is great friends with Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards. He benefited from hefty donations and ceaseless support from the abortion biz over the years, and he’s raised money for America’s number one baby killer. Obama went so far as to proclaim at a 2013 gala: “Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you.” Although God certainly doesn’t endorse the slaughter of the innocents, Obama has made crystal clear that he does.
There is no doubt in the mind of the American people that Obama has embraced his radical anti-Life platform to the end. The latest attempt to force states to continue funding a criminal abortion business is the final nail in the coffin.