PORT ST. LUCIE, FL, September 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A local taxing agency in Florida joined state governments across the country this morning in stripping taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood.
Ashley Mock, Communications Coordinator for the St. Lucie County Children’s Services Council (CSC), confirmed to LifeSiteNews.com that the agency had voted at this morning’s Council meeting to remove hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual funding from the national abortion giant.
The CSC has been funneling tax dollars to Planned Parenthood for ten years as provider of its teen services program, TCPalm reports.
The Council also distributes funds to other local programs, most of which are worthy of support, according to local pro-life leader Pastor Bryan Longworth.
“Planned Parenthood is too controversial of an organization to continue funding and has needlessly tarnished the name of the Children’s Services Counsel,” Longworth wrote on his website.
“I support most of the organizations funded by the Children’s Services Counsel and would like to see the CSC free to carry out it’s mission without the baggage that comes with funding Planned Parenthood.”
Pro-life activists in St. Lucie rallied under the name St. Lucie Taxpayers Against Planned Parenthood Funding this year, sponsoring protests and encouraging pro-lifers to attend the CSC’s monthly meetings.
In response to this pressure, the agency announced this past June that it would consider transferring the grant money to other programs. It received at least 13 proposals prior to this morning’s meeting.
According to Mock, the council voted to fund an after school program run by the Boys and Girls Club and a parent communication program run by Kids Connected by Design in lieu of Planned Parenthood’s programs.
Sean Boyle, executive director of the council, told TCPalm before this morning’s vote that the proposals had been reviewed by a team of individuals selected because they “did not show a bias one way or another.”