A
recent report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that
America’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, received at least $1.5-billion
in state and federal funding in a 3-year span from 2010-2012. The investigation additionally found that the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America and five other pro-abortion advocacy
companies — Advocates for Youth, Guttmacher Institute, International Planned Parenthood
Federation, Population Council, and the Sexuality Information & Education
Council of the United States – spent a combined total of nearly $482-million in
direct federal funding received from Health and Human Services and U.S. Agency
of International Development during that time.
The
report, which was compiled after a group of over 60 pro-life Congress members …
led by U.S. Reps. Diane Black (R-TN), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Pete Olson (R-TX)
… sent a letter to GAO in February of 2013 asking for data on the how much
federal funding was expended by six major organizations who advocate and or
perform elective abortion-on-demand from 2010-2012.
Planned
Parenthood spent most of the $482-million provided by HHS and USAID to the six
groups, spending over $344-million of it. Additionally, Planned Parenthood received over
$1.2-billion from combined state and federal funds from State Children’s Health
Insurance Program, Medicare and Medicaid.
“The
Obama Administration is committed to advancing a pro-abortion agenda and
continually has placed the demands of abortion advocates and providers at the
top of its public health agenda for 6-years [and] all the expenses [are] the
taxpayers,” said the director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human
Dignity, Arina Grossu, in a press release.
Although
Planned Parenthood gets about $500-million in taxpayer dollars every year and
offers other services, abortions accounted for 94% of their pregnancy services
in 2013.
Although
the Hyde Amendment, which was made
law in 1976, prohibits the federal government from using taxpayer dollars to
fund abortions, elective abortion providers and supporters are able to secure
federal funding because of the other services they offer, says Cheryl Sullenger
senior policy advisor for the Christian pro-life activist organization
Operation Rescue.
Under
the frequently-asked-questions section on the Planned Parenthood website, they
explain that they provide contraception, cancer screenings, breast exams,
treatments for sexually transmitted infections and HIV tests with the tax
dollars it receives. “The effort to bar
Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving any federal funds would
shatter the country’s public health safety net and jeopardize women’s health,” the
website claims. “Without Planned
Parenthood’s 800-plus health centers, millions of women will have no place to
go for basic, preventive health care.”
In
her statement, Rep. Black said that the government’s trend of providing funding
to companies like Planned Parenthood is “shameful” and there is a
responsibility for Congress to end the trend.
“This report confirms what we suspected all along: hard-earned taxpayer
dollars continue to be used to promote abortions,” Black explained. “That is shameful and we have a
responsibility to stop it. As a nurse
for more than 40-years, I know that abortion is not health care.”
Rep.
Olson said it is appalling that Congress members have to get involved in order
for the U.S. citizens to know how much of their money is actually being given
to elective abortion-advocating companies.
“It shouldn’t take a GAO request from Congress for the American public
to know where their tax dollars are being spent. Yet, since I have been in Congress, this is
the only way we can get answers,” Olson said in a press release. “That’s why I continue to demand transparency
and fight to stop organizations like Planned Parenthood from receiving a single
tax dollar. I will continue to do all I
can to prevent taxpayers from being forced to support organizations that
promote or perform abortions.”
Rep.
Black’s statement added that Congress should further act on the findings of the
report and pass the Title X Abortion
Provider Prohibition Act, which would further prevent federal funding from
being given to organizations that “promote the destruction of unborn life.” “It’s sad irony that this study would be
released at a time when Senate Democrats are working against human trafficking
and Medicare bills that continue the longstanding Hyde Amendment aimed at prohibiting federal funding of abortions,”
Black said. “As the GAO report clearly
shows, this amendment alone does not fully prevent the federal funding of
abortion providers and promoters. And let’s
not forget, this information the Obama Administration never wanted us to have.”
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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