WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky reintroduced legislation to permanently cut off federal tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, excluding the abortion chain from public funding regardless of whatever else happens with federal abortion policy.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be made available to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its affiliates,” Paul’s single-page Defund Planned Parenthood Act simply reads.
“As a physician, I took an oath to do no harm. As a father and grandfather, I’ve witnessed the miracle of life firsthand,” Paul said in a press release. “My commitment to protecting life isn’t just personal, it’s rooted in both science and principle. Life begins at conception, and I’ve spent my time in the Senate fighting to protect the right to life.”
Last year, Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report revealed that its affiliates across the nation took in $699.3 million in government “health services” reimbursements and grants, accounting for 39 percent of its total revenue during that period. At the same time, the abortion chain committed 392,715 abortions – yet procedures such as pap tests and cancer screenings continued to decline as percentages of its overall business.
Paul’s bill complements separate legislation recently introduced by Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi that, rather than disqualifying specific organizations, would establish that “(n)o funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law, and none of the funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by Federal law, shall be expended for any abortion” or for “health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion,” except in cases of rape, incest, or “medical emergency.”
Within days of returning to office, President Donald Trump reinstated the Hyde Amendment (that forbids most federal funds from directly supporting elective abortions) and the Mexico City Policy (that forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for elective abortions abroad).
Both moves were welcome news to pro-lifers, as well as the cancellation of millions of pro-abortion subsidies by the Trump administration’s freeze of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending. However, as executive actions, such moves only last as long as a like-minded president occupies the White House and may be unilaterally reversed by the next Democrat president. Paul, Smith, and Wicker’s bills would make clear prohibitions on funding abortion and the abortion industry permanent, reversible only by future acts of Congress.
