War Funding Bill Passes Without 'Wasteful Pork'
Planned Parenthood – the nation's leading provider of surgical abortions – will not be eligible to save millions of dollars on abortion-related drugs through this year's new war funding bill, thanks in part to the efforts of pro-life advocates.
An amendment to the 2008 War Supplemental Bill (H.R. 2642) would have allowed Planned Parenthood facilities and university healthcare centers to get drugs at further reduced prices, allowing for easier and cheaper distribution of controversial drugs such as birth control pills and the "morning after pill" or Plan B.
The U.S. House of Representatives, however, stripped the provision at the last minute before passing the bill Thursday night. Combined efforts by Republican Congressmen John Boehner of Ohio, Roy Blunt of Missouri, along with other pro-life supporters, helped scrap the provision.
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"[T]his bill is a real victory," Boehner commented in a released statement Thursday.
"It gets our troops the funding they need for success – without hamstringing our commanders in the field with politically-motivated war restrictions. It provides new resources to help our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan get a better education, without raising taxes unnecessarily on the American people. It also does not include billions in unrelated wasteful Washington pork that was added by Senate Democrats," the congressman added, referring to the stripped amendment.
In its statement after the bill's passing, the conservative Family Research Council (FRC) explained what the consequences could have been if the contested provision had not been removed.
"Had the language been included, a future president could have applied the prices to abortion drugs like RU-486, if he so chose."
"Planned Parenthood's clinics, which already make a tidy profit on these pills, would have used the lower costs to broaden the drug's distribution and lure more women into taking medication that has already caused serious side effects," the FRC said.
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America (CWA), said she was pleased by the decision of Congress to bar the pro-choice organization funding.
"CWA is pleased this bill funds our troops instead of lining the already inflated pockets of Planned Parenthood," she said in a statement.
"Our troops need funding, and their bill should not be loaded up with benefits for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood already receives over $300 million in funding from federal, state and local governments," she added.
Although pro-life supporters claimed victory in the recent spate with Planned Parenthood, others still say that greater attention is needed to combat many of organization's taxpayer subsidized operations.
Last year, a study released by Planned Parenthood said it serviced record numbers of patients and earned over $1 billion in profits, despite an overall decline in the number of abortions throughout the nation.
Founded in 1916 by Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood operates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, describing itself as "the nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care advocate and provider."
Christian Post reporter Eric Young in San Francisco contributed to this article.
