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House Representatives Issue Call for Defunding of "Wal-Mart of Big Abortion" - Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Wednesday Representatives Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) organized a special order on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to call for an end to federal taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood is the nation's number one abortion provider, providing 290,000 abortions last year.  Planned Parenthood provided nearly one in five abortions nationwide in 2005, the latest year nationwide abortion statistics are available.

"The idea that Planned Parenthood cares one whit about reducing the 'need for abortion' is absurd," said the President of the Susan B. Anthony List, Marjorie Dannenfelser.  "But even if this were a sincere claim on their part, they have failed miserably by their own measure.  The number of abortions Planned Parenthood performs continually rises, this year reaching 290,000.  It is past time to de-fund Planned Parenthood.  It is time for a taxpayers' revolt."

The Susan B. Anthony List is a political action committee dedicated to helping pro-life women gain election to Congress.

In her testimony on the House floor, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) referenced a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) investigation highlighting Planned Parenthood's recent appeal to the affluent in her congressional district.  The article spoke of how Planned Parenthood was opening "express centers in wealthy Minnesota suburbs" with the purposes of appealing to women who are "already doing their grocery shopping, picking up their Starbucks, living their daily lives."

"Flush with cash, Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide are aggressively expanding their reach, seeking to woo more affluent patients with a network of suburban clinics and huge new health centers that project a decidedly upscale image," reads the WSJ article.

"They are big business.  They are the Wal-Mart of big abortion," said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).  "They are the big box retailer.  It's time to end their tax exempt status.  It's a fraud.  It is time to stop the public financing of Planned Parenthood - it is the right thing to do."

According to its latest annual report, Planned Parenthood posted total revenues of $1,017,900,000 - over one billion dollars.  Nearly one third of that - $336.7 million - came from "government grants and contracts." In 2007, the U.S. Congress, under new Democratic Leadership, approved a $17 million dollar increase in federal taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood through the Title X Program.

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