WASHINGTON, D.C., April 6, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has risen to defend a beleaguered Planned Parenthood Federation of America, saying that depriving America’s largest provider of abortions of taxpayer dollars could wind up leading to more abortions.
“The assault on Planned Parenthood is unjustified. It is penny-wise and pound foolish. The law strictly and clearly prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion services,” said the former president in a statement Wednesday.
“The Republicans’ elimination of funding for Planned Parenthood, will in the end cost more than it saves by ending the ability of millions of American women to receive family planning services, breast and cervical cancer screenings and preventative healthcare at cost-efficient Planned Parenthood centers,” he continued. “And the denial of simple birth control and family planning services may well increase both the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions in our country.”
Congress is currently in a stalemate over a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government for 2011. The House version of the bill stripped Planned Parenthood of all federal funds, a provision several Senate Democrats have vowed to oppose.
On Tuesday, President Obama said he would not vote for another short-term CR, criticizing Republicans specifically for their efforts against abortion funding. The short-term CR proposed by the GOP on Monday had taken one step closer to the original CR’s full set of pro-life alterations by reinstating the Dornan amendment, a ban on taxpayer funding for abortions in the District of Columbia.
“We don’t have time for games,” said Obama. “Nobody gets 100 percent of what they want, and we have more than met what the Republicans want.”