From the moment the 112th Congress convened, Republicans have been hammered with questions about precisely what government spending they intend to cut. Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana has a great idea: Planned Parenthood.
Pence has introduced a bill called the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would block federal funding to organizations that perform abortions. According to a press release from Pence’s office, Planned Parenthood performed 324,008 abortions last year, and raked in $363 million from government grants and contracts. It’s under investigation in several states for allegations of Title X fraud.
“It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion,” declared Pence. “It is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote abortion at home or abroad.” His bill would not affect funding to the large number of clinics that offer family-planning services, but do not perform abortions.
Since we’re all very concerned about the angry tone of our political rhetoric these days, as opposed to our Left’s placid eight-year frolic in the meadow of the Bush years, let’s talk about the outrage of forcing millions of taxpayers to fund something they consider an absolute horror. It’s true that you can probably find conscientious objectors to virtually every nickel of government spending, but abortion is not the preoccupation of a tiny fringe, and it’s getting an awful lot of those nickels.
If we accept the premise that most actions of the State will be passionately opposed by somebody, it follows that the larger the State becomes, the more it will compel large numbers of people to support what they despise. This Is simply an inherent feature of Big Government. As it grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for government to find matters of near-unanimous consent among the public to subsidize… to say nothing of the growing sector of the public that think it shouldn’t be throwing around so many subsidies for anything.
Federal funding for abortions is opposed by strong majorities of taxpayers. It would still be wrong if the opposition came from a minority, but it becomes absurd when polls show 60% and higher support for the position Pence has taken. His bill would be a decisive rebuke of a State that demands faith, and obedience, in defiance of our individual conscience. Let Planned Parenthood pay for its own abortions.
