Radical Left Leaders in Certain States Want a Federal Bailout so They Can Keep Funding Planned Parenthood and Abortion

Debate continues over federal bailouts to state and local governments, as part of a Phase 4 stimulus. It’s important to note that the reason the states want as much money as they can get to cover revenue shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, is that they don’t want to cut their own budgets.

It’s not just essential services like hospital funding, emergency services, state employee pay, school funding, and the like that are included in state and local budgets. Many of the states that are pressuring for a federal bailout use part of their budgets to fund abortions.

Sixteen states have a policy to pay for elective abortions under Medicaid, which is a program funded by both federal and state dollars. These states have chosen to use state Medicaid dollars to pay for elective abortion. These states are: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

In addition at least nine states that we know of: Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Vermont, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, California and New York have specific carve outs in their budgets to provide millions of dollars of funding for Planned Parenthood.

President Trump has been reticent to support federal bailouts of the states, echoing previous remarks by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Speaking from the Oval Office, the President said:

I think Congress is inclined to do a lot of things but I don’t think they’re inclined to do bailouts. A bailout is different than, you know, reimbursing for the plague.

It’s not fair to the Republicans because all the states that need help — they’re run by Democrats in every case. Florida is doing phenomenal, Texas is doing phenomenal, the Midwest is, you know, fantastic — very little debt.

You look at Illinois, you look at New York, look at California, you know, those three, there’s tremendous debt there, and many others. I don’t think the Republicans want to be in a position where they bail out states that are, that have been mismanaged over a long period of time.

While the President didn’t mention state funding of abortion in his comments, it’s clear that he knows that the bailout money would be wasted by states run by the radical Left.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio lambasted President Trump at a press briefing Tuesday, saying: “The President of the United States — a former New Yorker who seems to enjoy stabbing his home town in the back — [is] talking about no bailout for New York.”

New York City itself has a budget item specifically directed to funding abortions, to the tune of $250,000. Can’t that money at least help pay for the fight against COVID-19?

Ask yourself this? Why should the federal government bail out the states and localities if they won’t cut wasteful spending, never mind making cuts to life-killing budget items that fund abortion?

We at the ACLJ have been winning significant victories for life during this pandemic.

At a time where they should also be fighting for life during the COVID-19 crisis, the Radical Left that leads certain states and localities is fighting to keep abortion clinics operating and keep abortions funded by struggling taxpayers.

Any bailout of states and localities needs to include a rider preventing that money from going to abortions – not just for fiscal responsibility, but for human life.