We should see some fireworks tomorrow as the Senate begins debate on ending all taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood:
Initial vote on stopping tax dollars from funding Planned Parenthood's abortion machine scheduled for Monday. P.M.
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) August 3, 2015
The legislation, sponsored by freshman Senator Joni Ernst, looks to strip funding from Planned Parenthood — which Planned Parenthood argues doesn’t go toward providing abortions but for birth control and women’s health — and give it to women’s health providers that don’t perform abortions:
Please sign the petition to stand up to @PPFA & support my legislation that will protect the most vulnerable. https://t.co/6M50dLYZTA
— Joni Ernst (@joniernst) August 3, 2015
.@SenJoniErnst is a rockstar. http://t.co/TonRXl4opz #defundpp
— Andrew Bair (@ProLifePolitics) August 2, 2015
National Journal sums up the “rock star’s” legislation:
Instead of merely cutting more than $500 million in grant money to Planned Parenthood, Ernst’s bill redirects the money to a network of community health clinics. Republicans argue that the move makes it easier for women to get health care.
“She’s the one who came to our conference and said that she was interested in taking the lead, and that she had some ideas on how to do it,” says Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio who faces reelection in 2016, “Her concern was that we needed to be sure and make it clear that she and we are supporting women’s health and reproductive health.”
Planned Parenthood, of course, isn’t so happy about this entirely reasonable proposal and tweeted this late Sunday night:
Recommended
Republicans, indignant about abortion, are trying to destroy a gov program that helps prevent 345k abortions a year. http://t.co/cwl4DBQYhz
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) August 3, 2015
Silly Planned Parenthood. Joni Ernst doesn’t want to destroy the program, just take the money away from you.
This links to a Nick Kirstof op-ed which tries to make the case, via a study by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, that the $500 million Planned Parenthood receives for birth control and women’s health will really lower the abortion rate:
The Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health, calculates that Title X family planning centers prevent about one million unintended pregnancies a year, of which 345,000 would have ended in abortion. It says that every year Title X clinics avert some 53,000 cases of chlamydia and 8,800 cases of gonorrhea, and save the lives of 1,100 women who would otherwise die of cervical cancer.
Even if this Guttmacher study is true, we’re still waiting for an explanation of why Planned Parenthood is the best recipient of these taxpayer dollars. Hint: IT’S NOT!
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