By Nathan A. Cherry, 02/21/2011
United States House of Representatives
Martinsburg, WV – Unless you’ve been on vacation, out of the country, or otherwise disposed in the last week it would be hard not to know that a major pro-life victory took place in Washington last week. The House of Representatives voted – by a wide margin – to defund Planned Parenthood! Yes, you read that correctly, Planned Parenthood has been stripped – for now – of all federal tax dollars. Can I get a Amen!
Debate in the house was heated and went on for several hours. Many voices weighed in on the issue such as pro-life advocates like Rep. Mike Pence – who has been pushing for defunding of PP for quite some time – said that recent revelations of criminal behavior captured on video by pro-life group Live Action make defunding PP an urgent matter:
“Every American should be shocked that an employee of the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X has been recorded aiding and abetting underage sex trafficking. The time to deny any and all funding to Planned Parenthood is now.”
President of Live Action Lila Rose also addressed Congress on the issue:
“Americans are outraged by the abuse and an overwhelming majority has for years consistently opposed taxpayer funding of abortion. As the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood receives one-third of its budget from the federal government, i.e. the American taxpayer. Last year alone Planned Parenthood received more than $350 million in taxpayer’s subsidies. Since 2002, Planned Parenthood has received billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies. In 2008-2009, Planned Parenthood performed more than 650,000 abortions and recorded profits of $63.4 million. This is outrageous given Planned Parenthood is legally organized as a ‘non-profit.’ Ideology and politics aside, what member of Congress would want to vote for taxpayer funding of an organization willing to engage in this type of activity? For those who do, it will be telling to see how they explain their vote to constituents back home.”
You can click here or here to read more about the vote to defund PP of all federal tax money.
This is surely a major victory for pro-life advocates across the nation. But regardless of your position on the issue of abortion, one thing I believe both pro-life and pro-abortion advocates can agree on is that tax payers should not have to fund the abortion business. Elective medical procedures are not guaranteed rights that the government should be funding. [Read more...]
About Nathan Cherry
Nathan Cherry is the chief editor and blogger for the Engage Family Minute blog, the official blog of the FPCWV. He serves also as the Regional Development Coordinator as a liaison to the pastor's of West Virginia. He is a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-religious freedom conservative. He is also a husband, father, pastor, author, musician, and follower of Jesus Christ.
Martinsburg, WV – It seems Planned Parenthood has been the subject of nearly every headline for the last week or so. It’s understandable when 
