OPINION:
President Donald Trump has a new proposal, and it’s one that’s going to make his Christian and evangelical base quite happy.
He’s set his sights on reeling in Planned Parenthood and abortion — another campaign promise coming true.
The White House is simply going to make Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers choose between federal family planning grant dollars and abortion.
“The so-called Hyde amendment prohibits the use of competitive federal family planning grant funds for abortion,” NBC News reported, “but organizations like Planned Parenthood have traditionally used the federal money for other health services while using private money for abortions and related services — sometimes at the same facilities and with the same staff.”
It’s been a maddening and illogical loophole for the pro-life, anti-abortion crowd for years.
Now Trump’s stepping up to close it.
His new “Protect Life Rule,” to be implemented via Health and Human Services, would force those organizations that take the Title X family planning funding to forfeit the money at any facility that offers abortion as a procedure — and at any facility that even deals with abortion referrals.
That’s huge.
“We thank President Trump for taking action to disentangle taxpayers from the abortion business,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, in a written statement.
Well truly, it’s only what Trump said he’d do while campaigning for president — to stop using taxpayer dollars to support agencies that provide abortions, that is.
And truly, too — even pro-choicers have to see that taking tax dollars to slide into the abortion industry is wrong, wrong and wrong again.
Planned Parenthood has received between $50 million and $60 million in Title X funding each year. It’s high time to put a stop to this funding madness — to this taxpayer murder, as the pro-life camp would put it.
If Planned Parenthood and other agencies want to offer abortions as part of their health care services, let them do it without the aid of taxpayer dollars.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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