February 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Following the passage today in the U.S. House of the historic amendment to strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding, the country’s top pro-life organizations celebrated the vote.
U.S. pro-life organizations have been pouring their resources into gathering popular support for the amendment, which passed overwhelmingly in a 240 to 185 vote (Click here to find out more about the amendment and the vote). The amendment now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.
The President of Live Action, Lila Rose, whose work exposing Planned Parenthood’s willingness to aid sex traffickers of underage girls was repeatedly cited during the debate in the House over the amendment, said: “We applaud those in Congress who championed the safety of women, young girls and children today, and refused to funnel hundreds of millions of tax dollars into an organization that furthers the trafficking of minors and enables sexual abusers.
“We now turn our attention to the Senate,” she continued. “Now they must examine the facts and move to pull the plug on subsidizing Planned Parenthood’s exploitation of the most vulnerable among us. The case to cease funding is crystal clear. But for any Senator who remains unsure, imagine explaining to your constituents that you voted to keep sending $350 million of their tax dollars to an ‘non-profit’ that puts young girls in harm’s way and made $63 million in profits by performing over 300,000 abortions last year. It’s time once and for all to stop financing these activities.”
Bryan Kemper, President of Stand True – Christ Centered Pro-life commented: “My parents remember what they were doing the day that John F. Kennedy was shot. I remember what I was doing on the day Ronald Reagan was shot. The pro-life youth of America are going to remember the day the nation’s largest child-killing organization lost its federal funding. Today we saw the courage of the House of Representatives as they took the first step to eliminate hundreds of millions of taxpayer’s dollars being spent on the destruction of this generation. We cannot slow down; we must now let the Senate know it is imperative that they do the same. We must defund Planned Parenthood now.”
The president of the Susan B. Anthony List, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said, “Ending taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood is a non-negotiable.”
“Pro-life America demands that our leaders in the Senate step up and take on this fight and that the House leadership holds its ground. Americans have spoken and the time to defund Planned Parenthood, a habitual and unapologetic ally of those who deal in the exploitation of minors, is now. This is a black and white issue and we will accept nothing less than the total defunding of Planned Parenthood in the Continuing Resolution.”
Douglas Johnson from the National Right to Life Coalition said: “This landmark vote demonstrates that most House members now recognize Planned Parenthood is a hyper-political, under-regulated, out-of-control mega-marketer of abortion as a method of birth control.”
“Now senators, too, will go on record on whether to push the snout of this bloated abortion mega-marketer, Planned Parenthood, out of the U.S. Treasury feeding trough.”
Tony Perkins, the President of the Family Research Council, described Planned Parenthood as “a scandal-plagued abortion organization” that “must be held accountable for abusing innocent young victims while receiving hundreds of millions in federal dollars each year.
“The fact that Planned Parenthood not only left minor girls trapped in prostitution, but encouraged it, shows an incredible lack of humanity on their part,” he said. “What goes on behind the windowless offices of Planned Parenthood, as Live Action’s videos show, is both saddening and shocking, but the fact that it has often been done with taxpayer dollars is indefensible.
He concluded: “We urge the U.S. Senate and President Obama to adopt the Pence amendment and respect the millions of Americans who oppose their hard-earned dollars going to a corrupt organization that destroys innocent human life.”
Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life, said: “This is a historic day for America. I want to personally thank all of the U.S. House of Representatives who took a stand for the preborn and their mothers and for their vote to protect young women from an organization who we know targets them – Planned Parenthood. Now, it’s up to the U.S. Senate where we need Senators who aren’t afraid of President Obama and his political machine made up of Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and Moveon.org to vote for Life and the future of our country. We need to de-fund the nation’s largest abortion provider once and for all. The lies, the laws they have broken, and the back door deals this organization has carried out needs to end now.”
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said today that in the past week it has heard from nearly 55,000 people who urged the House to defund Planned Parenthood.
“There’s no better place to begin the budget cutting process than putting a stop to funding Planned Parenthood,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. “It’s stunning that Planned Parenthood receives more than $360 million dollars a year in federal taxpayer funds. According to its own filings, Planned Parenthood reported more than 330,000 abortions in 2009 alone, a number that continues to climb. By receiving this windfall of federal funds, Planned Parenthood is able to free-up other resources enabling them to continue to promote and expand their pro-abortion agenda. The approval of the Pence Amendment in the House is long overdue and sends a strong message – American taxpayers are no longer willing to subsidize the nation’s largest abortion provider.”
Mike Pence, the pro-life representative who sponsored the amendment also issued a statement, saying: “This afternoon’s vote is a victory for taxpayers and a victory for life. By banning federal funding to Planned Parenthood, Congress has taken a stand for millions of Americans who believe their tax dollars should not be used to subsidize the largest abortion provider in America.
“I commend my colleagues in both parties for taking a stand for taxpayers and a stand for life. I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to support this legislation and end federal funding of Planned Parenthood once and for all.”