More than 20 Abortion-Friendly States File Lawsuits to Keep Giving Federal Taxpayer Money to Planned Parenthood

Do you live in a state that wants to force you to pay for free abortions on demand?

Odds are high you do, considering the fact that as many as 22 states are suing to uphold taxpayer funding to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood through Title X grants. This despite the fact that the dollars in question were never meant for abortion providers.

In fact, it was expressly stated in the language of the statute that “none of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”

Sounds straightforward enough. But it hasn’t been. For years, Planned Parenthood was able to take as much as $60 million a year of your taxpayer dollars through this program. Money it should have never had.

We took action, filing formal comments with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), making the legal case for how abortion providers like Planned Parenthood should never be allowed to receive taxpayer dollars while taking the lives of unborn babies.

And HHS responded. We recently told you how HHS released its final rule, effectively banning the abortion industry from getting its hands on a single cent of the $260 million in annual taxpayer-provided Title X funding, and instead redirecting those funds to true family planning clinics that need it. This would immediately cut off more than 10% of Planned Parenthood’s ever-increasing taxpayer budget in one fell swoop – approximately $60 million annually.

As expected, the abortion lobby isn’t just walking away. More than 20 abortion-friendly, Leftist states recently filed a lawsuit to try to keep funneling that tax money to abortionists like Planned Parenthood.

Twenty-[one] states and the District of Columbia are suing to try to block the Trump administration from enforcing a new rule that would shift millions in Title X family planning funding away from Planned Parenthood and to faith-based clinics.

The new rule[] was announced in February by the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit clinics funded by the Title X Family Planning Program from performing, promoting or referring for abortion as a method of family planning.

The rule would require abortion clinics to choose between performing abortions or getting Title X dollars and moving abortion services off-site.

While this block of pro-abortion states has banded together, California has filed a separate lawsuit and Planned Parenthood has also filed its own lawsuit, eager to keep its grip on all that free tax money.

The 21-jurisdiction-lawsuit led by Oregon is joined by New York, Virginia, Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

As you can see, this lawsuit to defend Planned Parenthood’s sacred taxpayer income is joined by all the states (New York, Virginia, Vermont, etc.) we’ve been exposing for passing or attempting to pass barbaric abortion laws allowing abortion up to the moment of birth, and even allowing infanticide.

While the Left is cloaking its actions under the guise of standing up for women’s health, claiming the rule violates patients’ rights, it is crystal clear that their real motive is to prop up the largest abortion business in America using your taxpayer funds.

California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra released a statement calling the rule “illegal” and saying it “denies patients access to critical healthcare services and prevents doctors from providing comprehensive and accurate information about medical care."

This is just more abortion distortion. The abortion lobby is deceptively laying claim to money it was never supposed to receive. Money it was supposed to be prohibiting from accessing. But that’s never stopped them before.

As we’ve reported in the past, abortionists like Planned Parenthood have exploited loopholes and deceptive practices to continually receive Title X funding:

Every year under Title X (using our tax dollars as the source of its funding), the Federal Government provides grants to abortionists like Planned Parenthood for “family planning services.” In fact, Planned Parenthood accounts for as much as 41% of the services funded by Title X.

Planned Parenthood continues to report record profits year after year while raking in half-a-billion dollars in taxpayer support and killing innocent babies. It’s ridiculous and needs to be stopped.

That’s exactly why we publicly supported the President’s proposal and filed our own public comments to cut Title X funding for the abortion industry, citing it as the first major step in our continued effort to fully defund Planned Parenthood and taxpayer funded abortion on demand.

We cited the HHS ruling as a big win for families and a painful hit to Planned Parenthood’s wallet. But as we warned then, the fight is far from over.

Make no mistake. There is a legal onslaught on life. It is a battle for the lifeblood of the abortion industry – its taxpayer funding.

The ACLJ legal team is reviewing these pro-abortion lawsuits and preparing to file amicus briefs to defend this commonsense, pro-life HHS rule and keep our tax dollars from funding abortion.

We continue to fight in courtrooms across the country and at the Supreme Court to defend pro-life laws, put a stop to horrific abortion practices, and end taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand for good.

Stand with us to save innocent lives.