In a battle over abortion between Texas and the feds, Texas has dealt the most recent blow. One day after the Obama administration announced that it would stop funding the Texas Women’s Health Program, Texas filed a suit in U.S. District Court. Texas’ attorney general is seeking a judgment stating that Texas can indeed choose to deny funds to abortion providers.
Though the Texas Democratic Party is calling this a “political game of chicken,” much more is actually at stake. Texas is the first state to be stripped of the federal funding for its Medicaid Family Planning Demonstration Program – demonstrating that the current federal government believes that abortion is essential to “family planning.”
The Texas legislature originally passed a bill disallowing any facility that performs abortions to receive Medicaid funding. Though every state should have – and does have – the right to determine if its funds can go to abortion-performing clinics, the federal government opted for an all-out war on Texas.
As has recently been demonstrated through the forced taxpayer funding of abortion in ObamaCare, President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius want nothing other than to coerce states and taxpayers to fund abortion. Instead of speaking out for choice, they attempt to enforce regulations that push abortion on the American people. Any state that stands against their coercive policies is apparently shut off from funding. The Obama administration cares more about the politics of abortion than the health of women.
Reuters reports that Texas has filed the lawsuit against the Health and Human Services Department and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:
The federal suit argues the agency acted illegally and in a manner that was arbitrary and capricious when it decided to terminate funding for the Texas Women’s Health Program, which serves more than 100,000 low-income women, due to Texas law that prohibits funding of entities that promote or perform abortions.
“(The decision) also violates the Constitution of the United States by seeking to commandeer and coerce the states’ lawmaking processes into awarding taxpayer subsidies to elective abortion providers,” the lawsuit said.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is quickly becoming a pro-life hero to many, as he has chosen to stand his ground firmly against the onslaught of the federal government. Since exiting the presidential race, Perry has boldly – and loudly – stood up for the right of Texans to choose to defund abortion clinics. He states, “This is about life and the rule of law, which Texas respects and the Obama administration does not.”
Indeed, to any outsider looking in, it is more than apparent that President Obama and his administration are dedicated to thrusting abortion full-force into the face of the American people, and specifically into the faces of Texans.
