Don’t Believe the Democrats on Planned Parenthood Bill
The Democrats decided that today, on International Women’s Day, that they would pull that full-throated support by a bill guaranteeing state funding for Planned Parenthood:
As Congress and the Trump administration move toward a possible cutoff of federal money for Planned Parenthood, Democrats in the Maryland General Assembly say the state should cover any funding loss.
Leading Democratic lawmakers are backing legislation that would require the governor to budget about $2.7 million to pay for non-abortion services offered by Planned Parenthood if federal officials cut funding. Dozens of women lawmakers turned out for the announcement at an Annapolis news conference — most dressed in red to mark International Women’s Day. They were joined by male colleagues, many in red shirts and ties.
The bill has the support of Democratic leadership in both houses of the legislature, led by House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.
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“If the federal government eliminates Planned Parenthood, someone’s going to have to step up and it might have to be the state,” Miller said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun.
The legislation is part of a broader effort by Annapolis Democrats to resist President Donald J. Trump and to force Gov. Larry Hogan to make potentiality unpopular choices about how to respond to a new Republican administration.
The bill of course is a not at all subtle attempt to again force Governor Hogan to talk about Trump instead of something else. Another check mark for the Democrats Trump obsession.
But let’s leave the Trump issue behind and focus on the funding aspect. The Democrats claim that the $2.7 million budgeted will pay for “non-abortion services.” These are services like mammograms, which Planned Parenthood doesn’t actually provide, but that’s an argument for another day. But the fact of the matter is that every penny that goes to Planned Parenthood will invariably pay for abortions.
How? Because every dollar that the state gives to Planned Parenthood frees up money to perform more abortions. Planned Parenthood, like most non-profts, don’t silo their money into individual pockets. If Trump Administration is successful in cutting funding from the group, the money is invariably going to lead to fewer abortions due to the lost of funding across the budgetary spectrum. If the state government replaces that money, that means that no change in Planned Parenthood’s status quo.
Let’s be clear; a vote to replace federal funding is a vote for state taxpayers to pay for abortions, no matter what Democrats say it is.
Governor Hogan has been reluctant to engage on social issues. But this issue is a no-brainer for both moral and budgetary reasons. I hope the Governor vetoes this bill if it crosses his desk.
