(Washington, DC) U.S. House of Representatives voted 229 to 188 today on H.J. Res. 43 to overturn former President Obama’s rule concerning funding of abortion providers under the federal Title X family planning program. The rule, issued shortly before President Obama left the White House, forbids states from defunding abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion business, and redirecting those family planning grants to comprehensive health care clinics.
“President Obama’s parting gift to the abortion industry was in keeping with his Administration’s actions over the last eight years. At every turn, then-President Obama thwarted efforts by state and local authorities – who were acting on the will of the people – to prioritize taxpayer funding away from Big Abortion,” SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said. “Obama’s legacy of forcing Americans to finance the abortion industry is being steadily dismantled by our new pro-life President and the pro-life Congress. We look forward to swift passage of this resolution in the Senate so that it can receive President Trump’s signature.
“Planned Parenthood which, according to their latest annual report, performed 323,999 abortions in a single year, does not need or deserve taxpayer dollars. We thank Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) for leading the effort to overturn this unpopular rule. Their leadership reflects the truth that women largely support stopping taxpayer funding of the abortion industry and redirecting funds to centers that offer real health care.”
Last fall, Alliance Defending Freedom, Susan B. Anthony List, and Charlotte Lozier Institute filed comments with HHS opposing the Obama rule at issue.
“This sudden and deficient rulemaking needlessly disrupted the primary care women were receiving through the ‘whole woman’ approach of many states,” Charlotte Lozier Institute President Chuck Donovan explained. “Ironically, it also interfered with the continuity and quality of advice they previously received regarding family planning. The rule assists a handful of vendors the Obama administration preferred at the expense of tens of thousands of patients.”
A January 2017 poll found that a majority of voters in 2018 Senate battleground states oppose giving tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider, instead of comprehensive healthcare providers. A majority in North Dakota, Montana, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Florida also said they would be less likely to vote for Senators who vote to keep sending tax dollars to the abortion giant.
President Donald Trump has committed to reallocating Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding to a variety of comprehensive, whole-woman health centers that outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 nationwide.