Abortion

ABORTION -- (House of Representatives - July 09, 2008)

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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues today in opposition to taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, and I particularly want to thank Congressman Smith for his long-time leadership on this most important issue, as well as Mr. Pence for his introduction of the legislation that will do just what we've been talking about this evening.

Let me just reiterate a few of the numbers that the gentlelady from Minnesota pointed out. Planned Parenthood had over $1 billion in revenue last year, $115 million in profit, $952 million in net assets. That's bad enough, I mean, that they're using our tax dollars to fund a practice that is wrong, that is immoral.

But add to it this fact--and I want to cite and the gentlelady did this as well--cite The Wall Street Journal article where Planned Parenthood talks about the fact that they're going to raise $10 million to fund their political action committee.

So to just put it into plain language, think about what's going on here in this practice. Planned Parenthood is using your tax dollars to raise more money to run against your candidate to elect someone who will give them more tax dollars. Stated even more simply, using your tax money to run against you and run against the candidates you want to support, those pro-life candidates. That's what they're doing. They want to keep electing people that will keep this process going forward.

This is just wrong, and it should stop. And the gentleman from Texas was so right when he talks about those pregnancy resource centers, those crisis pregnancy centers out there who are doing the bake sales. Our church, we help support one where they give each family a bottle and you fill it up with coins and you stuff a few dollars, raising money just any way they can to protect human life because they understand it's sacred. They understand it's precious. Contrast that with this practice that we see here that Planned Parenthood engages in, and frankly, contrast it with what the previous speaker just said.

The wisdom and the vision the Founders had when they started this place, when they started the greatest country in history, the Founding statement: ``We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.''

I think it's interesting to note the order the Founders placed the rights they chose to mention. Can you pursue happiness? Can you pursue your goals, your dreams, those things that have meaning and significance to you and your family if you first don't have liberty, if you first don't have freedom? And can you ever experience true liberty, true freedom, if government doesn't protect your most fundamental right, your right to life?

That's what this legislation is about. It's about protecting that most sacred, that most precious, that most fundamental right that the Founders understood was central to what we call this thing America. And that's why I'm pleased to support my colleagues in this legislation this evening. I appreciate the work of the gentlelady from Minnesota and, of course, Congressman Smith and the entire Pro-Life Caucus.

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