HFF Signs on to Letter to Congress on Redirect of Funding From Planned Parenthood

(March 31, 2017) This morning 77 national and state pro-life groups sent a letter to pro-life Members of Congress urging them to enact a new reconciliation bill that redirects taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood to community health care centers. Yesterday’s successful passage of H.J.Res. 43 – a Resolution overturning former President Obama’s regulation forcing states to fund Planned Parenthood under Title X – demonstrates that Congress has the votes necessary to take immediate action using Reconciliation.

 Spearheaded by Susan B. Anthony List, the letter reads, in part:

“The grassroots we represent expect you to stop funding this abortion giant [Planned Parenthood]. For years promises have been made, and the time has come to deliver. We urge you to pass a reconciliation bill that redirects Planned Parenthood funds to community health centers before the April recess. There are no excuses for inaction.”

The letter references a new video released Wednesday by the pro-life Center for Medical Progress, consisting of previously unreleased footage showing a former high-level Planned Parenthood employee graphically describing the harvesting of babies’ organs in late-term abortions and possible infanticide of babies born alive.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion chain, performing more than 323,000 abortions per year and nearly one million abortions in the last three years. President Donald Trump has made four specific commitments to the pro-life movement, including redirecting Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding to Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health centers and signing the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act into law.

The proposal to redirect taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood via budget reconciliation would result in a $422 million increase in federal funding for community health care centers, which enjoy strong bipartisan support, avoid provision or promotion of abortion, and now serve nearly 24.3 million people (and climbing) in medically underserved communities across the United States.

A January 2017 poll found that a majority or plurality of voters in 2018 Senate battleground states oppose giving tax dollars to Planned Parenthood instead of comprehensive healthcare providers. A majority in North Dakota, Montana, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Florida also said they would be less likely to vote for Senators who support sending tax dollars to the abortion giant rather than community health centers.