February 10, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — As Congress moves forward with plans to reallocate funding from Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion business, to comprehensive healthcare centers, citizens across America will speak up in support of the action on Saturday.
Groups will gather outside more than 200 Planned Parenthood facilities in 44 states and the nation’s capital to #ProtestPP. There will also be overseas support with a demonstration at the London headquarters of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which was recently defunded by executive order.
“The federal government has been subsidizing Planned Parenthood to the tune of more than $430 million annually,” explained Eric Scheidler, national organizer of #ProtestPP.
“This, at the same time that the nation’s largest abortion provider holds $500 ticket fundraisers and charges a woman about $500 to abort her baby,” he continued. “On top of that, Planned Parenthood is trafficking baby body parts. Taxpayers are sickened to see their money spent in support of these atrocities.”
These #ProtestPP rallies will emphasize four key points:
The 34 percent of U.S. abortions performed by Planned Parenthood underscores the fact that they are not a general healthcare service provider.
Fraudulent Medicaid claims, fetal tissue harvesting, and documented health code violations show Planned Parenthood’s systemic disregard for accountability to taxpayers.
Planned Parenthood exaggerates their role in women’s healthcare. The organization actually provides less than 2 percent of manual breast exams, fewer than 1 percent of pap tests, and 0 percent of mammograms annually.
Moving Planned Parenthood’s funding to federally qualified health centers will offer women and their families a wider range of healthcare services and a higher standard of care.
Citizens for a Pro-Life Society director and a national organizer of #ProtestPP, Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller stated, “The defunding of Planned Parenthood is a matter of moral principle. Not a single cent of American tax dollars should go to an organization that kills innocent human life.”
Mark Harrington, national director of Created Equal and a national organizer of #ProtestPP, commented, “We are closer than we’ve ever been to defunding Big Abortion — Planned Parenthood. Now is the time for a groundswell of grassroots efforts. We call on Congress and President Trump to reallocate those funds to health centers which help women without killing babies.”
Shawn Carney, president of 40 Days for Life and a national organizer of #ProtestPP, said, “Planned Parenthood’s brand is at an all-time low and their leadership reflects how disconnected they are from science and basic American values. This weekend thousands of Americans will stand in peaceful opposition to send a message that abortion is not health care and as the nation’s largest abortion operation, Planned Parenthood should not get $1 of taxpayer money, much less $430 million.”
#ProtestPP events, coordinated by Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Created Equal, and the Pro-Life Action League, along with 40 Days for Life and the Susan B. Anthony List, offer Americans a united chance to speak out against the nation’s largest abortion chain, which kills more than 300,000 babies each year. At the same time, participants will encourage Congress to strip Planned Parenthood of its nearly half-billion dollar taxpayer-funded stipend and redirect those monies to comprehensive health care centers through the budget reconciliation process.
Scheidler, also the executive director for the Pro-Life Action League, remarked, “This is a nationwide event, but at the same time it is a local community concern. As citizens gather to encourage Congress to quit sending money to an organization that specializes in killing children, they are also declaring that they do not want Planned Parenthood to continue operating in their neighborhoods.”
Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser, a national organizer of #ProtestPP, said, “Americans want to end taxpayer funding of abortion – that includes stopping taxpayer funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, and ensuring any Obamacare replacement is pro-life, and does not allow tax dollars or tax credits to pay for health care plans that include abortion. Planned Parenthood is a profit-driven, abortion-centered business that has performed more than 300,000 abortions in the last three years for which data are available. They do not need or deserve taxpayer dollars, and redirecting their federal funding to rural and community health centers would be a victory for women’s health.
“These comprehensive clinics outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 nationwide and provide far more services. The majority of Americans want taxpayer funding to go to real women’s healthcare, not abortion. This Saturday, that majority will let their voices be heard at #ProtestPP gatherings nationwide.”
President Trump has made four specific commitments to the pro-life movement, including reallocating Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding to comprehensive, whole-woman healthcare centers. Polling in 2018 Senate battleground states shows that voters support redirecting Planned Parenthood’s funding to community health centers.
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