Editorial: The War on the Womb Must Be Defunded:Title X Blood Money

Our government has been funding the War on the Womb for decades - far longer than the war in Iraq.  Under Title X, taxpayer dollars have been given to Planned Parenthood and other organizations under the guise of "family planning" for more than thirty years.  Hundreds of millions of dollars a year is poured into entities whose mission is to expand and increase abortion "services." In our age, abortion is no longer merely an immoral, individual choice.  It's become a nationally-sanctioned and praiseworthy pursuit. 

WASHINGTON, DC - (Catholic Online) - From the Houston Chronicle on June 15 came a report that 31 Republican lawmakers, led by Pete Olson of TX, had requested the Government Accountability Office provide a detailed accounting of federal tax dollars given to groups that advocate and/or commit abortions.  The whopping total amount was $1 billion dollars (and that may be a very low estimate) between 2002 and 2009.  That amount does not include state or local funding.

Who got the biggest chunk of this money?  Planned Parenthood, of course.  They receive at least $94 million dollars every year from the federal government, according to this GAO audit.  However, Planned Parenthood's own financial report from 2007-08 puts the figure at $349 million that year in government grants and contracts.

Planned Parenthood officials, as well as government officials, are ever quick to insist that not one dollar of this tax money is spent directly on paying for abortions, since that would be a clear violation of federal law.  Uh-huh.  Sure.  I don't think they're as dimwitted as they sound, nor as dimwitted as they clearly think we are.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that PP really is uber-diligent in keeping that tax money separate from all their other sources of income, and they tuck it away in an envelope marked "utility bills" or "remodeling expenses" or "office supplies" or whatever.  It doesn't make a whit of difference.  Whether that money is used to pay the staff, the abortionist, or the electric company, it achieves the same end result - dead babies.  I'm certain that vacuum aspiration machine doesn't run on batteries.  Somebody has to be sitting at the front desk in order to convince the 14 year-old girl that it's okay if her boyfriend is 30, she can have a secret abortion and no one has to know.  Somehow I doubt the abortionist would work all day in the dark or without air conditioning.

All money given to Planned Parenthood, no matter how it's purported to be assigned and spent, is blood money because it allows Planned Parenthood to keep their doors open and stay in business, and their business is killing babies, wounding women and enabling the violation of young girls.

It is time for voters to demand the defunding of Planned Parenthood.  Why has this government-funding of abortion gone on for so long without a revolt?  Do you not object to your tax dollars being spent in this way?  I sure do!

I can already hear the wind-up of those who equate this funding of abortion with funding the Iraq war, unable to draw any distinction.  "How can you say you're pro-life when you're a military spouse?" and on and on.  Spare me.

Military spending is not by any stretch of the imagination equal to abortion funding.  We can discuss all day long whether the war was necessary or whether it's just, but the fact is, we have very determined enemies in the world who want to see us all dead.  We in the United States also have some exceptional people who are willing to do everything they can to stop those insane lunatics.  They voluntarily put on a uniform, take an oath to protect and defend, and they fight real enemies with dangerous weapons.  They don't get rich doing it. Many of them give their lives in sacrifice.  Their intent is to protect - not to kill or harm the innocent.  Between them and the abortionist, there is no comparison.

The abortionist puts on his shirt, maybe a lab coat, perhaps some latex gloves and makes a cushy living by dismembering, burning, suctioning and stabbing tiny babies who can't put up a fight.  I've never seen a child in the womb point a gun at her mother or threaten anyone with a bomb.  The abortionist's intent is to kill the innocent and powerless.  The abortionist destroys life for a hefty fee.  His goal is to empty the womb by deadly force.

Like everyone else, I want nothing more than for the war to end and the destruction to stop.  But the reality is, our government has been funding the War on the Womb for decades - far longer than the war in Iraq.  Under Title X, taxpayer dollars have been given to Planned Parenthood and other organizations under the guise of "family planning" for more than thirty years.  Hundreds of millions of dollars a year is poured into entities whose mission is to expand and increase abortion "services."

Most voters are probably not aware of all this.  I admit I wasn't not that long ago.  Our ignorance is costly.   Time to shine some sunlight on this little-known fact and demand that this national War on the Womb be stripped of its funding immediately.  It means we need to pay more attention to who we're electing and if a candidate will not defend the child in the womb, then that candidate does not get our vote.  Period.

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Wouldn't you rather see $349 million in adoption grants, or $349 million spent on community homes where pregnant women could go for help and even a place to live if they needed it?  Why is it we're only helping women when we pay for them to have an abortion?

This evil misuse of our treasure betrays the true attitude of our heart as a nation.  We choose to spend money on killing our own children, rather than doing everything in our power to protect life and promote dignity.   We look God in the eye and spit in His face and say, "No thanks.  Take Your @#!*# gift of life and shove it."

I realize that abortion is not a new phenomenon to the 21st century.  There have always been sexual gluttons who abuse the gift of sex and so there have always been those who have no compunction whatsoever about killing the unborn.  Abortion always has been and always will be about unrestricted, consequence-free sex and satisfying the appetite for pleasure.  Abortion is hedonism's indispensable assistant.

But in our age, abortion is no longer merely an immoral, individual choice.  It's become a nationally-sanctioned and praiseworthy pursuit.  Abortionists are hailed as heroes in the halls of Congress and the media.  We have put our official seal of approval on the despicable act of murdering the child in the womb.  We pay for it with mandated tax money.  That much is unique to our times.  For those reasons, our offense is unspeakably, terrifyingly grave.

We have no right to expect the favor and blessing of God any longer on our land if we continue to be a nation that kills its own children in the womb.  God will allow us to have all that we have insisted we are entitled to.  He will not prevent us from reaping the harvest we have sown.  He will not shield us from the consequences of our choices, and what a bitter comeuppance it could be.  We have sown death; what do we think we shall reap?

The funding of Planned Parenthood or any group who advocates and commits abortion must end.  Rep. Mike Pence of IN has drafted legislation that would prohibit abortion providers from receiving Title X funds, called "The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act."  It currently has 93 co-sponsors.  Keep your eye on this one, and exercise your civic power.  Find out where your Representative stands on this legislation and make it clear:  Not one more cent to abortion providers!

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Jennifer Hartline is a grateful Catholic, a proud Army wife and mother of four precious children (one in Heaven).  She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online.  She is also a serious chocoholic.  Visit her at My Chocolate Heart.

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