These cities and states are funding abortion with taxpayer dollars

Multiple cities and states across the country are funding Planned Parenthood — and abortion — by sending hard-earned taxpayer dollars, either directly to an abortion industry recipient or to an abortion funding organization, which in turn, pays for abortions. The move follows a June decision by the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, enabling states to determine if they want to rise up and protect the preborn child, or whether they will allow preborn life to be executed by violent abortion.

Since 2000, Planned Parenthood has committed almost 6.4 million abortions and received $9.3 billion from taxpayers.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

In August, the Albuquerque City Council voted to send $250,000 to Planned Parenthood. City Councilors Isaac Benton, Pat Davis, Tammy Fiebelkorn, Trudy Jones, and Klarissa Peña voted for the bill that funded Planned Parenthood. As Live Action News previously reported, Albuquerque’s Department Director of Family and Community Services Carol Pierce claimed the funds would go toward services like wellness visits, breast exams, STD testing, and cancer screenings, despite the fact that those services at Planned Parenthood have been on the decline, while abortion and taxpayer funding is on the rise.

Atlanta, Georgia

In June, the Atlanta City Council approved a resolution stressing that no city funds will be used to investigate abortion, and that police will make investigations of possible illegal abortion their lowest priority. A separate resolution allowed the city of Atlanta to donate $300,000 to pro-abortion organizations, like Access for Reproductive Care Southeast. The Atlanta City Council passed the resolution on the consent agenda unanimously and without any objection. The money will pay for things such as rides to abortion appointments, abortion travel, and accommodations for women seeking abortions, according to news reports.

Austin, Texas

In June, CNN reported, “An amendment in the city’s 2020 budget will set aside $150,000 for ‘logistical and supportive services for abortion access’ such as ‘transportation, child care, case management, and other services as needed,’ the amendment reads. The amendment was added to the budget with only one objector before the council – which includes the mayor as a voting member.” It passed 10-1.

Baltimore City, Maryland

In June, Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced that the “City of Baltimore would provide $300,000 in grants to organizations that offer abortion and family planning services.” Mayor Scott called the move “crucial” describing it as an investment and claiming the city was “morally obligated to make Baltimore a safe haven for care-seekers.”

“Earlier in June, the City Council passed a resolution to designate Baltimore City as an Abortion Rights Protection Jurisdiction and improve abortion care capacity in preparation for an increase in the number of out-of-state patients seeking to terminate a pregnancy,” the release also stated.

Bloomington, Indiana

In August, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton laid out the 2023 budget, which would include, “up to $2,500 in travel and lodging expenses for employees to travel out of state for an abortion.” The move is in response to Indiana’s state legislature’s enactment of SB1, which prohibits most abortions.

Chicago, Illinois

In August, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has called the city an abortion oasis, issued a press release vowing $500,000 in taxpayer dollars to be split between the Chicago Abortion Fund and Planned Parenthood of Illinois, paid for by the Chicago Department of Public Health. As Live Action News previously pointed out, Planned Parenthood has a troubling history of injuring women in Chicago.

“The City is committed to supporting access to reproductive healthcare for not only Chicagoans, but also non-Chicago residents seeking safe, legal care from states that have or ultimately will severely restrict or ban abortion. The delegate agencies were selected through a competitive request for proposals process,” the news release stated.

Cleveland, Ohio

In July, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb announced that he and the city council were working to pass legislation to create a $100,000 “Reproductive Freedom Fund.” The fund would be used to “cover travel, logistics, and lodging expenses for Cleveland residents and City employees seeking a legal abortion in a nearby state.”

Columbus, Ohio

In July, the Columbus City Council allocated over $26,000 to Pro-Choice Ohio, originally founded as a NARAL affiliate, to investigate  pregnancy resource centers and determine whether “residents of the City of Columbus have access to medically accurate and legal reproductive health information.” As Live Action News previously documented, the ordinance language claimed that “there is a need for determining if crisis pregnancy centers provide effective, accurate, and comprehensive information and services in their crisis pregnancy centers in Columbus.” The ordinance authorizes the city clerk to “enter into a non-profit service agreement with Pro-Choice Ohio.”

That same month, the Council passed an ordinance that authorizes the director of the Department of Finance and Management to enter into grant agreements of $1 million dollars with Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and the Ohio Women’s Alliance to ” provide practical support and medically accurate and legal reproductive health information to residents of the City of Columbus.”

They do not define what “medically accurate” means.

READ: Where does your state stand on abortion after Roe?

 

While the ordinance supports “access to reproductive healthcare,” it claims it “does not include the use of public funds to subsidize abortion procedures and associated services such as anesthesia, laboratory tests, or hospital services.” It does fund “patient support expenses” which include “information hotlines, peer support, and case management; community education and engagement regarding reproductive health; and operational needs of the grantees stemming from providing such supports to the public.”

A press release from Ohio Women’s Alliance notes that the City “will grant $500,000 to partially fund the Member Assistance Program (MAP) established by Ohio Women’s Alliance (OWA) and Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO) (formerly Women Have Options) to protect Ohioans’ access to full-range reproductive health care.” According to the Columbus Dispatch, the fund would be paid for through the city’s Reimagining Safety Fund and Citywide Transfer Fund.

Fresno, California

In August, the Fresno City Council voted 5-1 to pass a resolution to serve as a pass-through entity for $9.5 million in state funds designated for local non-profits, including $1 million earmarked for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, KVPR.org claimed. The move was a state budget request secured by Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D–Fresno), according to SJVSun.com

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer later vetoed the move but unfortunately, as Live Action News previously documented, the Fresno City Council was able to successfully override Mayor Dyer’s veto.

Kansas City, Missouri

Live Action News previously documented that the Kansas City Council Office approved a measure that could provide a $300 travel stipend for city workers seeking an abortion, according to KCTV5. The resolution declares, “reproductive rights are fundamental human rights and criminalizing access to reproductive rights is a form of discrimination against women, girls and others who can become pregnant.”

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s proposed 2023 budget recommends the creation of a $300,000 one-time fund to support abortion access within the city. The move was initiated by pro-abortion organizations that initially requested $800,000 for the “Fund Reproductive Care Minneapolis” project.

Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich recently announced that the county is committing $1 million for grants to fund abortionists in the County. As Live Action News previously documented, a website set up for Montgomery County states, “Resolution 19-1357 provides a total of $1 million for the County’s FY 2023 Abortion, Reproductive Health, and Related Services Access (ARHRSA) Grants Program, with individual awards ranging from a minimum award of $50,000 and a maximum award of $500,000, for a performance period of up to one year.  The target population for this grant are women seeking access to abortion, reproductive health, and related services as well as the staff providing these services.”

READ: DEBUNKED: 11 myths about post-Roe abortion laws

The grants will be administered by Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Grants Management for “wraparound services to those who are accessing abortion services,” as well as “organizations in the County that provide abortion services, or that refer patients to abortion services as part of comprehensive family planning and reproductive health education.” In addition, the funding will provide “aid to organizations that are fighting legal battles on behalf of those seeking access to abortion services” and “[s]ecurity for providers who offer direct abortion services or referral to abortion services.”

The monies will also go toward “support” for abortionists including “relocation costs, training costs for new providers, or other startup costs” and the funds will “facilitate providers of abortion services to offer reduced cost, low cost, or no cost abortion services to women who have financial hardships, to ensure equitable access to abortion services.”

The news comes as an “all trimester” abortion facility, Partners in Abortion Care, opens in the state. Founders Morgan Nuzzo and Diane Horvath are currently crowdfunding for $500,000 for the facility.

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville’s Metro council members are “trying to get Metro Council to approve a grant for Planned Parenthood to help Nashvillians travel out of the state to get an abortion,” WSMV Nashville reported. The media outlet said the group has not nailed down where the funds would come from but said they are seeking a “memorandum of understanding with a community partner like Planned Parenthood.” They added, “$200,000 would go to sex education; $150,000 would go to sex supplies, like condoms; and $150,000 would help people access abortions outside Tennessee.”

Live Action News previously documented that, according to the Metro Council agenda, the City Council wants to grant Planned Parenthood $500,000. The measure, sponsored by council members Delishia Porterfield, Sandra Sepulveda, Emily Benedict, Ginny Welsch, Freddie O’Connell, and Bob Mendes, has now been referred to the October 4th Budget and Finance Committee, where members will decide if they will appropriate “five-hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) from the unencumbered balance of appropriations to the Metropolitan Council Office [$100,000], Mayor’s Office [$100,000], and Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure [300,000] for the purpose of funding a grant to Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi.”

The resolution passed in October. Read more here.

New York City, New York

On September 13, 2022, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the city council’s Women’s Caucus announced what they described as “the largest commitment of municipal funds by any city in the United States.” The New York City Council is providing $1 million towards expanding access to abortion to be “divided equally between the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF), which supports anyone who is unable to fully pay for an abortion and is living in or traveling to New York, and the Brigid Alliance, which provides logistical support (travel, lodging, childcare, etc.) for people seeking abortions.”

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In August, Mayor Jim Kenney and city leaders announced that “the City of Philadelphia will provide $500,000 in funding for the Abortion Liberation Fund of PA (ALF-PA), which provides emergency financial assistance to people seeking an abortion they are unable to use their insurance to cover and cannot afford.” Founded in 1985 in response to the Pennsylvania General Assembly eliminating Medicaid funding for abortions, “ALF-PA has provided funding to thousands of individuals seeking abortions, including more than 3,200 people in fiscal year 2021,” the news release also stated. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a lawsuit has been filed against the city challenging the funding move.

Seattle, Washington

In June, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced his administration would seek “to invest $250,000 in efforts to expand access to reproductive health care…” In August, the City passed multiple measures to make the city a sanctuary for abortion, including CB 120366, which allocates, “$250,000 of city funds to fund expanded access to reproductive healthcare by making an investment in Northwest Abortion Access Fund.”

“The city is also maintaining a new Protecting Abortion Access in Seattle page to keep track of legislative updates and to link to resources. It includes statistics documenting the scale of need for the health service — there were more than 16,000 abortions reported in Washington in 2020 — and the challenges people here may face including around 10% of women living in a Washington county without an abortion provider, according to a 2017 report,” CapitolHillSeattle.com reported.

St. Louis, Missouri

In July, according to a news release, “Mayor Tishaura O. Jones signed Board Bill 61, creating a Reproductive Equity Fund to support St. Louisans at every stage of pregnancy. The fund will support local providers offering postpartum support, lactation help, doula assistance, and access to abortion through logistical support.”

In July, Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued the city, arguing that the measure, which CNN reported would set aside $1 million for abortion logistical support, violates state law. “In managing that fund, public employees will be assisting or encouraging abortion by processing claims for public funds to cover costs incurred in obtaining abortions,” Schmitt said in a written statement.

States that fund abortion

California

In June, the California state budget allocated $20 million to the Abortion Practical Support Fund, a public-private fund that provides grants to nonprofit organizations that help low-income Californians obtain an abortion, CNN reported. In addition, the state created a website, Abortion.ca.gov, as part of the governor’s pledge to make California a sanctuary for women seeking abortions, and has placed billboards in Republican states directing women to the website. It lists the location of 166 abortion facilities statewide, and according to media reports, the website “lets teenagers in other states know they don’t need their parents’ permission to get an abortion in the state.”

Maryland

Earlier this year, lawmakers in the state passed House Bill 937, known as the Abortion Care Access Act, which allocates $3.5 million a year for abortion training. The purpose of the program is to “expand the number of health care professionals with abortion care training and increase the racial and ethnic diversity among health care professionals with abortion care training.”

Massachusetts

In June, MassLive.com reported, “The Massachusetts Senate…allocated $2 million to cover security infrastructure at reproductive health care facilities. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, approved $500,000 in its fiscal 2023 budget.”

New Mexico

In August, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order directing the Department of Finance and Administration to designate $10 million for a state-funded abortion facility. The Albuquerque Journal reported that the abortion facility would be built “in Doña Ana County — likely in or around Las Cruces,” and would come from “infrastructure funding allocated annually by the governor.” The paper also noted that the “pledged funding could be largely contingent on the outcome of the November general election.” Read more at Live Action News here.

New York

Earlier in the year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state was allocating $35 million to support the abortion industry.

Oregon

In March 2022, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) created a $15 million reproductive health equity fund through HB 5202. “The funds will cover supports such as travel and lodging for patients and expand provider network capacity,” according to AmericanProgress.org. “The funds could be administered to health care providers who are looking to increase their supports and infrastructure, buy more equipment, expand their workforce, and workforce development,” An Do, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon told KEZI.com. “But it also could go places like the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, which is a fund that has a hotline, and patients can call into this hotline, and this nonprofit basically connects them with the travel funds or the procedure funds that they need,” Do said.

Washington

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) “announced $1 million in emergency funds for reproductive care clinics in the state,” AmericanProgress.org also reported.

Editor’s Note: This article will be updated when new information becomes available.

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