Major change of course

Abortion key item in this year's Catholic Lobby Day, state's bishops call for de-funding Planned Parenthood, end to tax-paid abortions

The California Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state's bishops, is calling for an end to state funding of abortions and a halt to taxpayer spending for Planned Parenthood and similar groups.

The bishops' calls come in the form of strongly worded backgrounders issued by the state's Catholic Conference in anticipation of the 12th annual Catholic Lobby Day, to be held this year on Tuesday, April 27, at the state capitol in Sacramento. The backgrounders mark a major departure from previous years, when abortion was not included as a significant Catholic Lobby Day issue.

"Every year during budget negotiations, the Governor and state legislative leaders propose a reduction in state funding for SSI/SSP -- programs for the elderly, the blind and disabled -- while the funding continues for family planning institutions, like Planned Parenthood, which offer abortions, as they present their budgetary requests with the claim that their services will actually save the state money," says the Conference's backgrounder on the state budget. "This contrast in funding priorities and budget choices should alarm each of us. Those who are vulnerable and voiceless (literally in the case of the unborn children) are being placed at risk. Funds are allocated to programs designed to eliminate those at the beginning of life while funds are withheld from those at the end of their life or from those who are unable to or struggle to provide for themselves. Abortion is the taking of a human life yet our tax dollars are used to fund this immoral practice…"

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