What Happens Behind the Closed Doors of America's Abortion Industry?

AUL CALLS FOR HEARINGS TO LEARN WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND THE CLOSED DOORS OF AMERICA'S ABORTION CLINICS

Dr. Charmaine Yoest and other witnesses being sworn in at the
July 2010 Senate hearings for the nomination of Elena Kagan

This week, the U.S. Senate rejected the Continuing Resolution passed by the House, which cut the one-third of a billion dollars the federal government currently gives to the nation’s largest abortion provider: Planned Parenthood.  The majority of the Senate is poised to add abortion dollars back to its version of the budget even after the House voted to cut such funding. While the matter failed in the Senate, the effort to cut funding to Planned Parenthood passed with bipartisan support in the House, through an amendment from Representative Mike Pence (R-IN) to the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget, to H.R. 1, the long-term Continuing Resolution.

But that is not the end of the matter.

As legislators wrestle with the fact that more than 70 percent of Americans – pro-life and pro-choice – do not want their tax dollars to pay for abortions, many are beginning to ask a key question: With more than $360 million tax dollars to spend, what does the abortion industry really do with the money?

To find out more at the state level, AUL has produced and distributed Joint Resolutions calling for the investigation and defunding of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers on a state and local level. And AUL has drafted model legislation that would require clinics to be regulated for the safety of the women who go there for services.

At the federal level, AUL has called on Congress to freeze Planned Parenthood’s currently-allocated federal funding and hold hearings to investigate Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers’ consistent disregard for women and girls’ health and safety and for the law.

AUL President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest noted, “Planned Parenthood’s legacy is a sordid one of ruined lives and deceptive, politically-motivated actions. AUL is working hard to ensure Americans’ tax dollars do not line the pockets of an organization which has a pattern and practice of failing to safeguard women’s rights and health.”

Getting the American taxpayer out of the abortion business continues to be an AUL push as Congress looks for ways to cut the size and scope of government.  To sign a letter to your member of Congress calling for an end to the federal funding of the Nation’s largest abortion provider, click here. 

But Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby will not go quietly. Media reports, such as this one at Politico, show that Planned Parenthood is gearing up to fight to keep the hard-earned money of taxpaying Americans.

On The Docket

ILLINOIS NARAL SEES THE LIGHT - STOPS OPPOSING CHILD SEX ABUSE REPORTING

An AUL-inspired bill in Illinois has driven a wedge between abortion advocates. HB 2093 would expand the definition of who is a “mandatory reporter” of suspected sexual abuse to include everyone inside an abortion clinic – not just the abortionist and the nurse. This provides the maximum amount of protection for children who may be undergoing sexual abuse and are being taken to an abortion clinic by a predator. After initially opposing the bill, the Illinois Choice Action Team changed course in an email to supporters:

 In response to comments, feedback, and our own concerns regarding bill 2093, we at the Illinois Choice Action Team have removed our name from the Reproductive Health and Access Act coalition of opposing organizations for Illinois House bill 2093. We understand the bill context however, when it comes to the issue of reporting child abuse we would rather any case seen be reported and so we are withdrawing our name.

However, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU still oppose the measure. Incredibly, Planned Parenthood’s website includes the following statement in a form letter their supporters can send to legislators:

HB 2093 requires office staff and volunteers of organizations that provide reproductive health care or sex education to be mandated reporters of child abuse. All doctors, nurses and teachers are already mandated reporters. Therefore, these organizations are already legally required to make reports. This bill creates redundant regulations that have the potential to overload the Department of Children and Family Services. [Emphasis added]

AUL Vice President of Government Affairs Dan McConchie has been coordinating the effort in several states to protect children from those who prey on them. About the opposition, McConchie asked, “It’s hard to image anything worse than not reporting suspected sexual abuse of minors.  But arguing that the government might get overloaded with requests to protect our kids is just incredible. Government should be about the business of keeping children safe from predators.”

To read more about AUL’s efforts at the state level, read Dan McConchie’s statements to NPR about new clinic regulations.

AUL TAKES THE MEDIA TO SCHOOL

In light of misinformation and actual error in some media reports regarding Americans United for Life model legislation, AUL released a legal primer on the “Pregnant Woman Protection Act,” which is designed to offer pregnant women protection from domestic violence, a growing national problem.

 Some reporters have tried to smear the legislation as somehow allowing for third parties to harm abortion providers, an interpretation only possible if one does not read the legislation. In fact, the “Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act” applies only to situations in which unlawful force is being applied or imminently threatened against a pregnant woman and/or her unborn child. To read more about the model legislation, click here. The American Independent did an analysis of the controversy detailing media mistakes. To read more, click here.

IN THE NEWS

In The Corner at National Review Online, Dr. Yoest discusses an unusual place for a pro-life ad (click here), and she also detailed a pro-life frame of mind in New York City, where people believe the abortion rate is too high (click here.)

And check out William Saunders at LifeNews.com where he analyzes bad advice on abortion coming from British physicians. Click here to read more.