House Takes Critical Action to Allow States to Defund Planned Parenthood

The U.S. House of Representatives has just passed a critical pro-life bill allowing states to defund Planned Parenthood.

Since the Planned Parenthood video exposé, at least five states have revoked taxpayer funding for big abortion (aka, Planned Parenthood):  North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Utah.  In Iowa, the governor has ordered a review of Planned Parenthood funding. As we previously reported, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin had restricted or eliminated the use of State funds for abortion prior to the release of the videos.

However, in Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana, President Obama-backed Planned Parenthood is challenging these state-level actions in Court, claiming the states lack the authority to revoke Medicaid (read: taxpayer) funding for abortion services.  These lawsuits will likely center on recent Ninth and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decisions, holding that Medicaid patients have a statutory right to choose any provider they want, including those who provide abortions.

Currently, the “free choice” provision of the law dictates that any eligible person may obtain services from any qualified provider.  The Ninth and Seventh Circuits have held that state efforts to restrict these funds from abortion-providers violate this requirement.

In other words, under the current state of the law, pro-life taxpayers are forced to fund the abortion industry.

We need swift legislative action in Congress to ensure that the values and will of the people – the taxpayers – are no longer ignored.

On September 11, 2015, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) introduced H.R. 3495, the “Women’s Public Health and Safety Act.”  H.R. 3495 would allow a state to establish criteria determining whether an entity that “performs, or participates in the performance of, abortions” may provide services under the plan. Keep in mind that State Medicaid dollars are your tax dollars.

In other words, it would add a provision specifying that a state may determine whether its Medicaid dollars go to abortion providers.

We are happy to report that on September 29, 2015, the Act passed in the House by a vote of 236/193.

Now our attention turns to the Senate.  Will this Bill be introduced in the Senate? Will Senate Leadership see that this Bill moves? Will you make your voice heard?

H.R. 3495 is a good Bill that just makes sense – a state should be able to decide whether its Medicaid dollars are spent on life-ending abortions.