Planned Parenthood pummeled by Blunt action
If you do not take much of anything from this column, I pray you at least take the following three facts:
1. Planned Parenthood, America’s leading provider of abortions, killed 255,015 babies between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005.
2. Planned Parenthood collected more than $882 million of income for the same period, nearly $273 million off the backs of taxpayers.
3. Gov. Matt Blunt has been consistent in his opposition to Planned Parenthood’s brutality in this state and proved it again March 19 when he cut-off funding for Planned Parenthood operations in Springfield and Joplin after his administration uncovered that state taxpayer dollars were being funneled to both.
No one has been more critical than me of Blunt’s support for Amendment 2, the pro-cloning amendment that, at least for now, is part of Missouri’s Constitution. It has cost the governor dearly among social conservatives, some of whom have jerked the “pro-life tag” from around his neck. Yet despite that mistake, we obviously have a governor who understands the Republican Party is broader than a handful of gazillionaires, John Danforth and lying human cloners. He understands the majority of Missourians are pro-life – particularly conservatives who form his base and will provide “ground support” and votes if he opts for re-election next year. Missouri conservatives – and particularly family values voters like conservative Christians – do not want public money to go to any organization that kills people, whether its human cloning or, in the case of Planned Parenthood, abortions.
Of course in the most recent confrontation between Blunt and Planned Parenthood, much of the secular news media focused primarily on two issues: The money Blunt cut was only used to provide free breast-cancer and cervical-cancer screenings at the Springfield and Joplin facilities and that abortions are not provided at either one, only at Planned Parenthood clinics in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.
However, some media failed to note three things for which Blunt ought to be commended:
1.Both of the targeted clinics promote abortions, acting like “feeders” to the two other abortion clinics.
2. Women should not have to go to an abortion provider to access life-saving tests. There is no telling how many women in need of the screenings went despite their moral objections to Planned Parenthood’s continuing slaughter of innocent life. Thanks to Blunt, women will no longer have to endure such indignity.
3. In addition to stopping the remaining $27,000 earmarked for the screenings at the two targeted Planned Parenthood facilities this year, Blunt ordered those public dollars transferred to Ozark Tri-County Health Care, with locations in Joplin, Anderson and Cassville, and to Jordan Valley Community Health Center in Springfield where screenings will continue. Blunt has also proposed increasing the funding for the health screening program by $500,000.
There is one other point about Blunt that should not go unnoticed in all this: The state is in excellent financial shape and this action against Planned Parenthood demonstrates how he is searching for – and eliminating – hidden funding to inappropriate recipients like Planned Parenthood while continuing to provide screening funds for women who are in desperate need. He has done a great job for Missouri taxpayers.
But hold on. Blunt is not finished with Planned Parenthood. Not by a long shot.
Senate Bill 370 is alive and well and do not be surprised if it takes center stage at the State Capitol soon. The bill, supported by Blunt, is a three-headed monster in the eyes of Planned Parenthood in Missouri. It has considerable bi-partisan support and has a reasonable chance of passage before the General Assembly adjourns in May. SB 370 will:
1. Prohibit abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from teaching sex education and providing sex education materials in public schools. The most common provider of sex education materials and teachers in Missouri’s 900,000 public schools is Planned Parenthood. How can anyone who kills babies for a living be trusted with teaching responsible sex education? It is a blatant contradiction of public policy.
2. Require abortion facilities, which complete one abortion or more in the second trimester of pregnancy, or five abortions or more during the first trimester of pregnancy, to be an ambulatory surgical center. This will force the abortion clinics to submit to state health inspections and ensure sterile environments.
3. Establish the Missouri Alternatives to Abortion Services Program and the Missouri Alternatives to Abortion Public Awareness Program which will provide services or counseling to pregnant women as well as assistance to women in caring for their children and or placing them up for adoption.
The battle between Missouri pro-life Republicans in the state and Planned Parenthood has been raging for years. In August Planned Parenthood affiliates won an approximately $900,000 victory when the Missouri Supreme Court, in a horrible 4-3 decision, ruled they did not have to repay family planning funds received against the will of the Legislature.
Since gaining control of the Legislature, Republicans have been eliminating family planning grants earmarked for abortionists and their affiliates. We should be thankful we have a governor who continues to lead us down this path. It is right and just.