“For too long, the abortion industry has syphoned off resources from health care centers designed to meet women’s full-service needs,” said AUL’s Corporate Counsel Evangeline Bartz “Abortion is not healthcare.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. (3-30-17) – Americans United for Life attorney Evangeline Bartz said that today’s U.S. Senate vote on Title X family planning funding “kept a promise made to Americans that scarce taxpayer resources would be invested in full-service health care, not abortion industry coffers. AUL thanks the members of the House, Senate and Vice President Mike Pence for their leadership.” Both Houses of Congress have now passed H.J. Res. 43, a joint Resolution of Disapproval on an agency rule issued by the Obama administration in the final weeks of its regime that went into effect two days before President Trump took office. The Obama administration’s “midnight” rule forces states to allow Title X family planning and preventive health care funding to Planned Parenthood or other clinics that provide abortions, despite the fact that a number of states acted to exclude abortion providers from eligibility for Title X funding in their state. This rule thereby enriches the abortion industry and thwarts the will of elected representatives.
“By passing this Resolution of Disapproval, states will be free again to block abortion providers from subsidizing their businesses through Title X funds. In addition, Congress has acted to prevent future pro-abortion administrations from reinstituting it as an agency rule. We are grateful for the enduring value of Congress’ pro-life vote today. Funding for the abortion industry is entangled throughout numerous federal and state programs, like Title X,” observed Bartz. “AUL has long fought for valuable Title X resources to serve women’s needs. Women’s health should not be used by the abortion industry to hijack funds better distributed through medical centers committed to their full-service needs.”
Today’s vote is one of several in the works to redirect vital resources for women to medical locations rather than abortion clinics and providers.
“We need to build on this pro-life momentum. AUL also supports the efforts of pro-life legislators to defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion industry enterprises during the budget reconciliation, and efforts to redirect foreign aid from abortion providers worldwide,” said Bartz. “The highly profitable business of abortion should no longer be an American investment. Scarce resources should be directed toward life-affirming care.”
The joint resolution now goes to President Trump for his executive approval.
For more information on myths and facts of taxpayer funding of abortion, click here.
For more on the business model of the highly profitable Planned Parenthood, which receives more than half-a-billion dollars in taxpayer funds each year, click here.
