Tony Perkins: Tell Congress They Cannot Fund Planned Parenthood Through Reconciliation

In the previous Congress, Republicans were able to pass a budget reconciliation bill that removed funding for Planned Parenthood, but President Barack Obama vetoed the legislation.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins is concerned the new reconciliation bill that will come up for a vote later this month—which is meant to repeal and replace Obamacare—won’t include the same provision, which would very likely get President Donald Trump’s approval. He’s sent out an urgent call to action, asking Christians to contact their elected representatives to convince them they won’t tolerate a budget that continues to fund abortion.

He wrote:

The time for Congress to repeal Obamacare is now! The repeal of Obamacare was a top issue that drove conservative voters to the polls to vote this past November. The drive to end Obamacare is due in part to the fact that taxpayers are overwhelmingly opposed to public funding of elective abortions. Despite this, American taxpayers are still being forced to subsidize this atrocity to the tune of millions of dollars a year in Obamacare, which subsidizes health plans with abortion coverage. As Republicans seek to repeal and replace Obamacare, they must not allow this to continue.

Any Republican health care “replace” provisions must follow the longstanding Hyde Amendment’s fundamental pro-life principle that abortion is not health care and the government should not fund or incentivize abortion on demand. If any health care legislation Congress takes up fails to meet this basic test, pro-life members of the House and Senate must stand should-to-shoulder to defeat the bill.

Perkins also noted there is concern that moderate and liberal Republicans in the Senate could gum up the works with their own budget rules:

[I]f House Republicans add Obamacare “replace” provisions in the form of universal tax credits and other subsidies for health care, as they are preparing to do, strict Senate budget rules could strip out any provisions stopping funding for abortion in these health care programs. If this happens, pro-lifers will then be forced to oppose the entire bill because it will, in fact, fund abortion on-demand, even if it also defunds Planned Parenthood for one year.

He urged Christians to call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to contact their senators and representatives. Not only should they repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood as they promised, he said, but also oppose any “replace” bill that doesn’t include abortion funding restrictions.

“Congress must avoid creating Obamacare 2.0 when it comes to taxpayer subsidies for abortion on demand,” he said. “The final version of any health care ‘replace’ legislation must, as an absolute requirement, bar subsidies for elective abortion coverage or services. If such a prohibition fails, members of the House and Senate must oppose the entire bill.” {eoa}