Tuesday, Live Action released a report claiming that taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood allows the abortion provider to spend multi-million dollars in midterm elections.
“Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion corporation and a multimillion-dollar political machine,” said President of Live Action Lila Rose. “Millions of dollars in taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood allow it to turn around and spend millions of dollars supporting the 2018 midterm campaigns of the politicians who will keep that funding flowing.”
“While Planned Parenthood and its political arms are separate on paper, because taxpayers are forced to give the abortion chain over $500 million a year, donors are freed up to direct their money to Planned Parenthood’s political agenda rather than to fund what nominal health services Planned Parenthood itself provides,” Rose continued. “Getting a half billion dollars a year from taxpayers allows the abortion chain’s donors to divert their money to political efforts to defeat pro-life politicians and to lobby for taxpayer funding of abortions, increases in federal funding, and the repeal of all abortion regulations. It’s the taxpayers who end up paying for Planned Parenthood’s radical pro-abortion agenda — an agenda that poll after poll shows most Americans are against. Planned Parenthood is weaponizing the taxpayers’ own money against them.”
Planned Parenthood is using some of those dollars in Alabama to fight Amendment Two where they are vastly outspending Alabama pro-life groups.
The Executive Director of the Alliance for a Pro-Life Alabama, Cole Wagner said that pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and its liberal allies have spent more than a million dollars in Alabama from New York, California, Memphis and New England to run ads against Amendment Two.
“We can’t match Planned Parenthood and its liberal allies dollar for dollar. Their expensive radio and TV commercials are spreading lies and misinformation about Amendment Two to confuse the voters and create doubts,” Wagner said. “We are grateful to all of our Pro-Life partners in the Alliance, like Citizens for Life, for making every effort they can to support Amendment Two and combat Planned Parenthood’s false claims.”
According to the Alabama Fair Ballot Commission Amendment 2 is: “Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended; to declare and otherwise affirm that it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, most importantly the right to life in all manners and measures appropriate and lawful; and to provide that the constitution of this state does not protect the right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.”
Amendment Two was sponsored by state Representative Matt Fridy (R-Montevallo).
Live Action reports that Planned Parenthood’s political arms are poised to spend $20 million on their own and another $30 million in a joint effort with three other groups in the midterms on both state and federal offices. In addition to its midterm spending, according to its latest annual report, Planned Parenthood and its political arms were able to spend $160 million last year for “public policy” and “movement building” and to “promote health equity” and “engage communities” as well as spend another $85 million on fundraising.
Planned Parenthood performs over 320,000 abortions a year. Taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood has risen from $336 million in 2006 to $543 million a year in 2016.
“The corrupt bargain between Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion politicians must end. It’s paid for by taxpayers and with the lives of over 320,000 preborn children every year. Congress and the president must fulfill their promise to defund Planned Parenthood of all taxpayer dollars. American taxpayers should not be in the abortion business, nor should they be subsidizing campaign contributions to any politician to keep them in office.”
