President Obama Has Moved to Protect Planned Parenthood

Under current laws, the states dole out federal government funds called “Title X funding” to “community health centers.”

In the past, this funding has included Planned Parenthood, but in the wake of the Center For Medical Progress’ investigative journalism videos exposing how the abortionists are engaged in the sale of body parts and tissue from aborted babies, several states have removed Planned Parenthood from Title X funding. But a new rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would prohibit states from doing that, effectively “propping up” the abortionists, according to the member of Congress who is trying to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) calledd the proposed rule a “stunt” by the Obama Administration. It says that states cannot use criteria for providing Title X funds that are “unrelated to the ability to deliver services to program beneficiaries in an effective manner.”

This includes “family planning services”—which is meant to include abortion.

Black, who authored the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, responded:

“This latest stunt from President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services should surprise absolutely no one. We’ve known all along that the Obama Administration will go to untold lengths to protect its friends in the big abortion industry.

“After all, this Administration has previously used backdoor maneuvers to line Planned Parenthood’s pockets with Obamacare navigator grants and praised the abortion provider’s ‘high ethical standard’ even after it was caught trafficking in baby body parts. Now, they have taken the unprecedented step of thwarting states’ rights with a shady proposed rule change that prevents states from funding the providers who will best serve their citizens.

“In the coming days, I intend to lead a letter expressing the deep concerns of Members of Congress on this proposal, but we won’t stop there. We must use the full force of Congress and the grassroots strength of the national pro-life movement to defeat this absurd rule and prevent the Obama Administration from acting unilaterally to carry out political favors and prop up a scandal-ridden abortion provider.”

Black, a registered nurse, is a member of the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.