Many conservative leaders say whatever form the Republican bill to repeal and/or replace Obamacare takes, it must contain provisions to protect the unborn and get taxpayers out from having to fund Planned Parenthood.
In an interview following a press call with national conservative leaders on Friday, David Bozell, president of ForAmerica, told Breitbart News the elimination of Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding is a “non-negotiable position” for him.
“Defunding Planned Parenthood has been promised over and over again, and I’m not even that satisfied with the fact that they’re only repealing it for one year,” Bozell said. “Getting rid of that provision is not negotiable and a non-starter.”
He added:
As a party, as a movement, both on the hill and in the White House, we’ve got to start standing up for the rights of the unborn, and we’ve got to be stewards of taxpayer resources. Handing hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer resources to a company that works in the baby body part trade is a non-starter for me.
The Republican Study Committee recently sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that insists a GOP healthcare proposal contains provisions to protect life.
Committee chairman Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) told McClatchy “it took him no time to gather the 30 signatures on the letter, which he said he sent as a ‘quick reminder’ to Senate leaders trying to craft legislation that can satisfy conservative and moderate Republicans in the Senate.”
“Pro-life protections are a no-brainer,” Walker said. “For about 80 to 90 guys in the House, that’s an immediate nonstarter.”
“We’ve warned the Senate that there’s nothing they could do that would blow the health care bill to Mars more than taking the pro-life components out of it,” Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), who signed the letter, also told McClatchy. “I think they know if they do, they might as well not vote. It would blow it to smithereens over here.”
During the press call with national conservative leaders Friday, Arina Grossu, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council (FRC), asserted the two priorities pro-life leaders are requiring of any GOP healthcare bill.
“First, that the bill defund Planned Parenthood and redirect the over half a billion in taxpayer money to federally qualified health care centers and community health centers,” Grossu said, and then added:
These federally qualified health centers not only offer screening and prevention services, breast exams, and prenatal services, but they also offer a full spectrum of other primary care services to women, children, and families that Planned Parenthood fails to provide, such as mammograms, a variety of immunizations, diabetes screenings, eye, ear, and dental screenings, well-child services, mental health services, and substance abuse health services.
“Second, we ask that it does not subsidize abortion in any of its plans,” Grossu continued. “Currently, Obamacare subsidizes over a thousand plans that include elective abortion. No tax credits should go toward plans that include elective abortion.”
The states and their Obamacare insurance plans that subsidize elective abortion can be viewed here.
Grossu said that Planned Parenthood is attempting to advertise itself as offering healthcare services in rural communities.
“That’s not true,” she explains. “Planned Parenthood goes into cities where it can make the most money. They’re actually not serving as many people. Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report shows less patients going to them for services, but they’re getting more money from the federal government.”
The abortion provider’s own recently released annual report shows its profits, taxpayer funding, and number of abortions performed have all increased over the past year. However, many of the organization’s non-abortion services–such as contraception, cancer screenings, and prenatal services–have decreased over the same period. Nevertheless, Planned Parenthood advertises itself as a “healthcare provider,” and its president, Cecile Richards, has testified before Congress that, “abortion is healthcare.”
For years, the pro-life base of the GOP has been told by Republican politicians that Planned Parenthood would finally be defunded when the GOP controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House. Now, with Republicans in control in Congress and a pro-life President Donald Trump in the White House, these activists are expecting the GOP to come through for them.
Americans United for Life (AUL) President and CEO Catherine Glenn Foster says elected officials should keep their promises to eliminate abortion funding and to protect the conscience rights of all Americans who, under Obamacare’s HHS contraception mandate, faced significant governmental fines as a result of noncompliance.
“Replacing Obamacare with healthcare that respects both life and the constitutional rights of all Americans is a pro-life necessity,” Foster added. “It is un-American to use the force of law against those whose ethics require that they defend and protect life.”
AUL’s president says that, under former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, “the concerns of pro-life Americans were ignored in favor of the abortion industry’s coercive and profit-maximizing agenda.”
A Marist national survey released in January found 83 percent of American adults oppose spending U.S. tax dollars to facilitate abortions overseas, and 61 percent – including 61 percent of women – oppose spending tax dollars helping to finance abortions in the U.S.
Additionally, the poll found that nearly three in four Americans – including a majority of residents who say they are “pro-choice,” want significant restrictions on abortion.
President Donald Trump has promised to defund Planned Parenthood and redirect its taxpayer funding to other community healthcare centers if the group continues to perform abortions.