![Outside the Planned Parenthood offices on 16th Street Northwest, representatives of pro-life groups, including Lila Rose, founder of Live Action [in pink skirt and black jacket], protest taxpayer support for the giant reproductive health services organization. (Photo by The Washington Times) ** FILE **](https://twt-thumbs.washtimes.com/media/image/2014/10/14/protest_c0-153-2055-1351_s885x516.jpg?808f2526c14fd0c495f3a53a18614aee3399fdb3)
With three weeks to go before the midterm elections, representatives of pro-life groups gathered outside a Planned Parenthood office to denounce the abortion-providing giant and urge people to vote “for life.”
The House has passed bills banning abortions after 20 weeks gestation and blocking taxpayer funding for abortion but these haven’t even gotten a hearing in the Senate under Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said Mary Drury of Americans United for Life.
Also, a recent government-watchdog report found that hundreds of health insurance plans under Obamacare offer coverage of elective abortions, despite Democratic assurances during the Affordable Care Act debates that it didn’t do that, she said.
With seven in 10 Americans saying they don’t want taxpayer funds to go to pay for abortions, people should cast their votes “to take back the Senate for life,” said Ms. Drury.
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, said it was wrong for more than $500,000 in taxpayer funds going to the nation’s “biggest abortion chain.”
“The womb has become a war zone in our country,” said Ms. Rose. There should be “no taxpayer funding for abortion.”
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The lunch-hour protest, held outside the Planned Parenthood offices on 16th Street Northwest, drew one male heckler: “This is a ridiculous protest against a totally legal procedure,” said a young man who stopped near Ms. Rose as she was speaking. “Stop messing with women’s lives,” he said before walking off.
A requested comment from Planned Parenthood was not immediately available. However, Planned Parenthood Action Fund cites research showing that “publicly supported family planning programs” has saved the nation $13.6 billion — and for every taxpayer dollar spent on its disease testing, pregnancy prevention and vaccine programs, the country reaps $7.09.
Planned Parenthood’s political action arm and its pro-choice allies are also fighting hard to keep the Senate in Democrat hands: They specifically urge voters, and women in particular, to oppose the “extreme six” Republican candidates in Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
Other speakers at the Tuesday pro-life protest included Alison Howard of Concerned Women for America, Joshua Duggar of the Family Research Council, Missy Martinez of Students for Life, Ryan Bomberger of the Radiance Foundation and pro-life activist Jill Stanek.
Many of them decried the Sept. 16 report from the Government Accountability Office, which found that more than 1,000 health plans offered in 28 states under the Affordable Care Act included coverage of elective abortions. In at least five states, all health plans included such coverage.
The Department of Health and Human Services said it would seek to ensure that states and insurers comply with the new health care law, which says consumers who don’t want to be associated with abortion must have at least two health insurance plan options.
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The GAO’s findings are important: Pro-life Democrats almost sunk the law during the 2009 and 2010 debates when they refused to vote for a bill that permitted taxpayer subsidies for elective abortions.
President Obama promised — and did issue — an executive order that, like the Hyde amendment, prohibits federal funding for abortion in the new health insurance exchanges. “Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion,” Mr. Obama said of the Affordable Care Act.
However, Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican and lead sponsor of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, responded to the new GAO report, saying it revealed “massive new public funding of abortion in the president’s health care law.”
“Agree or disagree with public funding of abortion — a significant majority of Americans oppose it — but no one likes to be misled or deceived,” Mr. Smith said of the GAO report.
• Cheryl Wetzstein can be reached at cwetzstein@washingtontimes.com.
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