Last Friday the House of Representatives voted on an amendment to the Labor/HHS Appropriations Bill introduced by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) that would have stopped taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood. It failed 247-183, nearly right down party lines.

The Amendment would have stricken funds made available to Planned Parenthood under Title X of the Public Health Services Act. It would not have cut funding for family planning, pregnancy help, or breast cancer screening, services Planned Parenthood has been pushing of late in order to minimize their baby-killing image.

It’s a miracle that the Pence Amendment made it to the House floor in the first place. Earlier Democratic leaders manipulated a vote on rules that prevented consideration of an amendment to stop taxpayer funded abortions in the nation’s capital as well as denying other pro-life amendments to stop direct taxpayer funding of abortion from even being debated. But the Rules Committee, perhaps sensing the turning tide of American anger over taxpayer-funded abortions, allowed a vote on the Pence Amendment — or perhaps they just had a good sense of the partisan politics in already in play.

In June it was reported that 19 pro-life democrats had sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in which they expressed their opposition to any health care reform that would include abortion funding, “directly or indirectly.” The signers of the letter were:

Reps. Dan Boran (D-Okla.), Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), Colin Peterson (D-Minn..), Tim Holden (D-Pa.), Travis Childers (D-Miss.), Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.), Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Mike Mclntyre (D-N.C.), Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), James Oberstar (D-Minn.), Bobby Bright (D-Ala.), Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Charlie Melancon (D-La.), John Murtha (D-Pa.), Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), and Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-Pa.).

The vote on the Pence Amendment was an opportunity to have these pro-life democrats put their money where their mouth is. Checking the vote, we find that 11 did indeed vote “Aye” in favor of the amendment. But seven of them did not, with one abstaining from voting: Stupak, Holden, Ortiz, Oberstar, Driehaus, Kaptur, Murtha; Dahlkemper did not vote.

These seven were not enough to turn the tide in the voting, but still, in principle, they failed in their so-called commitment to life.

Planned Parenthood and its affiliates in fiscal 2007-2008 is reported to have received $350 million in government grants and contracts, up from $337 million the previous year. (In 1997, PP undertook 160,000 abortions, receiving $160 million in taxpayer funds, to show you how this has grown.) In 2007 PP claims to have provided 11,000 women with prenatal and pregnancy services which is only about 5 percent of their total business; abortions account for the other 95 percent. From 2006 to 2007 the number of PP abortions increased from 289,750 to 305,310, and we’re talking about surgical abortions, not chemical or medical, here.

Politicians who claim to want to reduce abortions by providing more funding for Planned Parenthood for family services and “reducing unwanted pregnancies,” are either severely mathematically challenged, or simply promoting abortion and the culture of death. 

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danwhitehead1 said:

	What do you want to bet - - - - - - that his nation is finished?
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July 28, 2009
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Pat Henry said:

party to shame Party line splits simply reinforce the image that the current minority is pro-life. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Republicans had a majority and a President, and still passed nothing pro-life. The "pro-life" bill they did pass stopped not a single abortion, and enshrined Roe v Wade as approved (yes, the bill affirmed Roe!) in legislative precedent. This was worse than nothing. We need the Constitution Party on this #1 issue (first reason for law is to protect lives of citizens / prevent bloodshed), as no other national party is 100% pro-life. See the platform.

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July 29, 2009
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Lee Gonzales said:

Winning should be our foremost thought Dan White :"...this nation is finished?" At least you put that into the form of a question. Robert Welch told us that we still have many layers of strength left that we (The John Birch Society) can use to build on to win. In Welch's time before he formed the JBS, the odds favored the "Insiders." After years of vigorously directing the "Freedom Movement Mr. Welch reassessed the state of the nation and gave the "freedom Movement" an even chance of winning. Yes, "winning." We lose sight of the fact that victory will come to us if we don't dispair and keep our eye on the ball; follow Mr. Welch's plan of building the Congressional districts by hiring and putting enough coordinators in a state like Montana to oust a Max Baucus and put a Constitution type Senator in there. All of this will require activism and dedication and money. Put in enough of one or the other and we will win. History is filled with examples of beating the odds: The Battle of Lepanto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto_(1571) is one of my favorites as is the Battle of Thermopylae http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

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July 31, 2009
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danwhitehead1 said:

	I'm sorry Mr. Gonzales - - - - - - but this time I can't agree with you. With any sort of luck, I'll be dead in a year or two anyway.
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August 03, 2009
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