CatholicVote’s President Brian Burch and other pro-life leaders sent this letter today to Members of Congress urging them to support the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (H.R. 61). The bill, authored by Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, would prevent Title X federal funding from going to big, profitable abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood until they agree not to perform or refer for elective abortions.
Here is the letter below:
January 8, 2013
Dear Member of Congress:
Congratulations on your recent election to serve your constituents in the 113th Congress. The purpose of our letter is to encourage you to stand in strong support for the right to life – in all stages, and in all places.
With that goal in mind you should know that right now one of the greatest threats to women and young girls is the Obama Administration’s attempts to insert the federal government further into the role of promoting elective abortions with federal taxpayers’ money. One example is the treatment of Planned Parenthood, a political ally of the President and the largest provider of elective abortions in the country. Planned Parenthood is a giant abortion chain and it has received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants and reimbursements from the government. No one knows exactly how much we’ve wasted in supporting abortion businesses, but a 2010 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report showed hundreds of millions have been funneled to them. Planned Parenthood’s 2011-2012 Annual Report showed they received a record $542 million in total taxpayer funding in one year, making up 45% of their annual revenue.
Not only is Planned Parenthood getting richer by collecting public bailouts for abortion services, they’re also profiting off the taxpayer by making abortion services the core of their so-called family planning support – they try to push abortions on women so they can make more money. To make matters even worse, these big abortion businesses have been found to be complicit in promoting sex-selection abortions, facilitating human trafficking, engaging in coercive behavior, and failing to maintain financial records in accordance with the law, just to name a few things.
To help address this problem Representative Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) introduced the first pro-life bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on the first day of this session of Congress, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (H.R. 61). Her legislation would prevent Title X federal funding from going to big, profitable abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood until they agree not to perform or refer for elective abortions. This is an important step because we can’t afford the moral and financial cost to this country for innocent lives to be taken, especially as it happens with federal taxpayer money.
We respectfully request that you lend your co-sponsorship and public support to H.R. 61 and other pieces of legislation like it so that we can stop taxpayer funding for abortion and begin to hold Planned Parenthood and others who violate the law accountable. Thank you for your time and consideration to this important matter.
In Support of Life,
Penny Nance
President, Concerned Women for America
Lila Grace Rose
President, Live Action
Star Parker
President, Center for Urban Renewal and Education
Andrea Lafferty
President, Traditional Values Coalition
Ralph Reed
President, Faith & Freedom Coalition
Gary Bauer
President, American Values
Brian Burch
President, CatholicVote.org
Matt Smith
President, Catholic Advocate
Buddy Smith, Executive Vice President
American Family Association
Mario Lopez
President, Hispanic Leadership Fund
Austin Ruse
President, C-FAM
C. Preston Noell III
President, Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Seton Motley
President, Less Government
Georgette Forney
President, Anglicans for Life
William J. Murray
Chairman, Religious Freedom Coalition
Jim Backlin
Vice President of Legislative Affairs, Christian Coalition of America
Dr. Keith Wiebe
President, American Association of Christian Schools
Steven W. Mosher
President, Population Research Institute
Mandi Campbell
Legal Director, Liberty Center for Law and Policy
Mathew Staver
Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel
Deryl Edwards
President, Liberty Counsel Action
Jim Martin
Chairman, 60 Plus Association
Judson Phillips
Founder, Tea Party Nation
Jay Sekulow
Chief Counsel, ACLJ
David Bossie
Preisdent, Citizens United
Colin Hanna
President, Let Freedom Ring
Roland Warren
CEO, Care Net
Micheal Needham
CEO, Heritage Action for America