WASHINGTON, D.C. (05-04-17) – Americans United for Life’s Acting President and Senior Counsel Clarke Forsythe praised members of the House of Representatives for voting to defund the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood:
“American taxpayers should not be responsible for subsidizing Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. The House’s 217-213 vote today would remove funding from Planned Parenthood for the next year and redirect that money to the full-service Federally Qualified Health Centers and community health centers across the nation that outnumber Planned Parenthood 20 to 1. It’s important to remember that 7 in 10 Americans, whether pro-life or pro-choice, do not want to see their tax dollars subsidizing the abortion industry. This vote is an important step towards our ultimate goal of permanently defunding the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.”
“AUL has led the charge to defund Planned Parenthood at both the state and federal levels. In Unsafe: How the Public Health Crisis in America’s Abortion Clinics Endangers Women , AUL’s recently released and groundbreaking investigative report, Planned Parenthood abortion clinics are exposed for providing substandard patient care and violating important health and safety mandates designed to protect the very women it claims ‘need’ its services. Yet the reality is, Planned Parenthood hurts women. In Unsafe, we highlight the heartbreaking stories of three women who went to Planned Parenthood seeking care, only to die or suffer permanent injuries. Women deserve better than Planned Parenthood, and taxpayer dollars should be awarded to comprehensive healthcare providers, such as community health centers, that truly care about and for their patients.”
Unsafe documented that at least 39 Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation have been cited in the past 8 years for violating important health and safety standards including:
- • 30 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to ensure a safe and sanitary environment.
- • 21 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to document patient records and maintain their confidentiality.
- • 20 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to ensure staff are properly trained.
- • 14 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for allowing unlicensed or unqualified staff to provide patient care.
- • 17 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to dispose of expired medications and medical supplies.
- • 19 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to purchase and maintain required equipment.
- • 15 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to adopt, follow, and/or review health and safety protocols.
- • 12 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to properly handle medications.
- • 13 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to comply with physical plant standards.
- • 5 Planned Parenthood clinics cited for failing to monitor patient vital signs.
Unfortunately, support for abortion is woven into Obamacare at multiple levels. While defunding Planned Parenthood is an important step towards removing taxpayer subsidies for the abortion industry, anti-life provisions implemented by Obamacare remain. AUL urges Congress to address these provisions in the final version of the reconciliation bill.
Pro-life concerns with Obamacare include:
- Failing to prohibit the use of federal tax dollars for abortion, abortion coverage, and abortion-inducing drugs and devices.
- Pretending that the Hyde Amendment protections were enough to prohibit direct payment for abortions.
- Permitting federally subsidized Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) to provide abortion coverage through the state insurance exchanges required in all 50 states.
- Failing to prohibit all multi-state qualified health plans from providing coverage for abortion.
- Including a “preventive care” mandate that is being used to force coverage of drugs and devices known to end life.
- Failing to provide comprehensive First Amendment conscience protections for individuals, employers, and insurance companies that have religious or moral objections to abortion.
For more on the dangerous conditions within America’s abortion clinics, click here.
For more on how the abortion industry infiltrated the process of creating Obamacare, click here.
For more on the many harms of abortion for women, click here.
