Black, Roby Introduce Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood in Continuing Resolution

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Diane Black (R-TN) and U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-AL) introduced HConRes36, which would defund Planned Parenthood in the Continuing Resolution, which cuts $38 billion for the remaining six months of the Fiscal Year 2011.

"I am proud that this measure defunding Planned Parenthood is my first bill as a Member of Congress," said Congressman Black. "As a nurse for over 40 years, I have spent my entire career protecting life. Now as a Member of Congress, I will continue to fight for the rights of the unborn through legislation like this, ensuring no federal funds are used for the promotion or performance of abortions."

"It is our responsibility to listen to those who elected us to make hard decisions. We must fight for those who do not have a voice, the unborn. We have heard repeatedly from the American people that Planned Parenthood is not -- absolutely not -- where they want their tax dollars to go. As the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood is independently wealthy. To date, it has accumulated nearly $1 billion in net assets. The more taxpayer dollars awarded to Planned Parenthood, the more abortions the group will perform," said Rep. Roby.

The Black-Roby resolution defunding Planned Parenthood, offered as an enrollment correction resolution, will be brought to the House floor on Thursday for a stand-alone vote during consideration of the CR. The Black-Roby resolution is a critical part of the agreement forged by House Speaker John Boehner, and will guarantee a debate and vote in the U.S. Senate over federal funding for Planned Parenthood and any of its affiliates. If the Black-Roby resolution passes both the House and the Senate, it will be added to the full CR and sent to the president for his signature.

"There is an urgent need to stop taxpayer dollars from funding abortions," said Black. "The Republican Majority in the House has already made clear our commitment to ending funding for Planned Parenthood, but the Senate has ducked this important discussion for too long. It's time for Senators to debate this in the open, as the House did during H.R. 1, and finally take the vote to end taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood."

"American taxpayers should not be compelled to support activities that they consider offensive and immoral. Our resolution will offer members of both the House and Senate an opportunity to vote up or down on whether to continue this funding," said Rep. Roby.

Conservative estimates indicate that Planned Parenthood and its affiliates receive $363 million of its nearly $1 billion budget in taxpayer funds. While the national abortion rate continues to decline, the number of abortions provided by Planned Parenthood continues to climb. According to Planned Parenthood's March 2011 year-end report for its 2009 fiscal year, Planned Parenthood served three million clients, of whom 332,278 received abortions contrasted with only 977 adoption referrals and 7,021 prenatal care clients. Since 1977 (the first year for which data is available), Planned Parenthood has conducted 5,493,960 abortions.

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