On November 8, 2016, Americans across the country voted pro-life. Not only has President-elect Donald Trump vowed to defund Planned Parenthood and appoint pro-life judges to the Supreme Court, but Americans elected a pro-life Senate and Congress.
“The pro-life movement is in the strongest position that it has been in over 40 years since Roe vs. Wade,” Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser said at a November 9 press conference. “This election has delivered a very powerful punch and along with that has delivered a very strong mandate to finally allow the real consensus in this nation to be enacted into law.”
Planned Parenthood receives over $550 million dollars in taxpayer money each year. Meanwhile, CEO Cecile Richards’ salary has nearly tripled, going from $353,000 in 2009 to $957,952 in 2014. In addition, a congressional panel determined the non-profit has been spending “millions” on other six-figure salaries, “blowout” parties, expensive real estate, first-class travel, and celebrity events.
In his letter to a Pro-Life Coalition, Trump has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood, as well as:
- Nominate pro-life Supreme Court justices,
- Sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act, and
- Make permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prevents taxpayer money from being used for abortion.
In her latest press release, Lila Rose, president of Live Action, urged President-elect Donald Trump to keep his promise and defund America’s largest abortion corporation, Planned Parenthood.
“It’s critical that we unite to hold Mr. Trump to those pledges to defund Planned Parenthood, to appoint pro-life Supreme Court justices, and to ensure that taxpayers are never forced to fund abortions,” she wrote.
Not only does Trump need to be held accountable to defund Planned Parenthood, but those elected to the House and Senate must also be called on to keep their pro-life promises.
Pro-life incumbents re-elected to Congress in Tuesday’s election include Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, Utah Rep. Mia Love, and California Rep. Mimi Walters, among others.
Americans also voted in newcomers to represent the pro-life cause in Washington: Reps.-elect Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania, Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Claudia Tenney of New York, and Sen.-elect Todd Young of Indiana.
With a clear and hopeful path to defund Planned Parenthood, bring the abortion industry to its knees, and ultimately, reverse Roe v. Wade with a pro-life Supreme Court, our elected officials must keep the pro-life promises they made to the American people.
Our politicians need to be reminded that the majority of Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortions, and for good reason.
“Planned Parenthood gets $1.5 million in taxpayer funding every day – nearly half of its budget – which allows it to keep its doors open and ruthlessly slaughter 887 children a day,” Rose said. “It’s time to put Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry out of business.”
Due to widespread cultural education efforts — including the release of Live Action’s Abortion Procedures video series and the recent video debunking Planned Parenthood’s three percent abortion claim — there’s a shift in the way people are thinking about abortion. Undercover investigations of Planned Parenthood, including those by The Center for Medical Progress and Live Action, are causing Americans to see Planned Parenthood’s darkest sides.
“Public opinion on abortion is transforming as more and more Americans recognize life inside the womb and refuse to accept the idea that women’s rights are incompatible with children’s rights,” Rose stated. “Increasingly, Americans are pro-life and demand better for both women and preborn children than the violence that our laws condone.”
Americans must continue to call on elected officials to uphold their promises to defend preborn children and defund Planned Parenthood. They must be held accountable for their vows to the American people.
It’s time to defund Planned Parenthood.
