Some issues are so urgent that they bear frequent repetition.
Here’s one of them: Planned Parenthood needs to be defunded by Congress. As numerous recent videos have shown, this abortion giant commodifies unborn children much as an auto parts store sells headlights and floor mats.
As my colleague Arina Gross, Director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity, has written in The Daily Signal, funding for Planned Parenthood is far from a necessity with respect to women’s health services:
Planned Parenthood does not offer any women’s health services that are not offered by other health care centers. None. The same services it provides are abundantly available, especially serving low-income individuals in urban and rural locations, while at the same time they don’t perform abortions. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) offer comprehensive women’s health care that puts Planned Parenthood to shame. States, along with Congress must defund Planned Parenthood and make available the $528 million in taxpayer funds it receives currently to the work done by Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics centers.
Alliance Defending Freedom and the Charlotte Lozier Institute, two of FRC’s key allies, have produced maps showing where health centers not providing abortion are located in the states individually and nationwide. Bottom line: As opposed to 665 Planned Parenthood clinics, there are more than “13,000 non-abortion providing federally qualified health center (FQHC) service sites and rural health clinics (RHCs) that could receive” the half-billion dollars the federal government annually gives Planned Parenthood “and continue to provide comprehensive women’s healthcare.”
As Arina has documented, FQHCs offer a broader array of health care services for women than Planned Parenthood.
FRC is gathering signatures on a petition to ask Congress to remove funds for Planned Parenthood or at least impose a moratorium on Planned Parenthood funding until congressional investigations take place. Please add your name and voice to this effort. Protecting the unborn and their vulnerable mothers from this predatory industry is critical, and the time is now.
Sincerely,
Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice-President
Family Research Council
P.S. Be sure to join us next Wednesday, September 9, either in person or online, for Dr. Ryan Anderson’s lecture, “Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom.” Anderson will report on the latest research on same-sex parenting and provide a roadmap on how to rebuild a culture of marriage.
Religious Liberty
“Free to Believe” –
- GAME ON: Liberty Institute and Craig James Sue Fox Sports for Unlawful Religious Discrimination in the Workplace – Liberty Institute
- Christian Bakers Gotta Bake, Even for Gays -- Emma Green, The Atlantic
International Religious freedom-
- Equal Opportunity Oppression: Religious Persecution Is a Global Problem – Jonathan Fox, Foreign Affairs
- Christian persecution in China mounts with arrest of activists opposing cross removal – Jonah Hicap, Christian Today
- Iraq Forms Committee to Address Christian Persecution - Veronica Neffinger, ChristianHeadlines.com
Religious Liberty in the Public Square –
- Favoring some claims of conscience over others – Travis Weber, Washington Times
- Kentucky Clerk Still Won’t Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses - Arian Campo-Flores, Wall Street Journal
- Poll: Americans, 4 to 1, choose religious freedom over gay rights – Paul Bedard Washington Examiner
- ‘Respectable’ Journalism is Slipping: Atlantic Writer Thinks Religious Believers Belong in Straitjackets – David French, National Review
- Ohio judges cannot refuse to perform gay weddings based on personal views, state board advises – Robert Higgs, Cleveland.com
- 16 States, Religious Groups Ask Supreme Court to Take Contraceptive Mandate Case – Becket Fund
- Houston pastors sue mayor over civil rights violations – Bonnie Pritchett, World
Life
Abortion
- The Real Planned Parenthood: Leading the Culture of Death – Family Research Council
- The Dehumanizing Arc of Planned Parenthood – Rob Schwarzwalder, The Stream
- Why Women’s Health Care Will Thrive When Planned Parenthood Is Defunded – Arina Grossu, The Daily Signal
- Why News Corporations Protect Planned Parenthood – Joseph Schaeffer, Crisis Magazine
- Biotech Firm At The Center Of Abortion Scandal Abandons Planned Parenthood – Spencer Raley, Media Research Center
- Pro-life Leaders Slam Journalists at Margaret Sanger Protest - Katie Yoder and Kristine Marsh, Newsbusters
- Defunding Planned Parenthood Is Legal, but Don’t Expect the Courts to Act Like It – David French, National Review
- New York Times Supports Secret Videos — Against Animal Industries – Wesley J. Smith, National Review
- ‘Another boy!’ Planned Parenthood staff sifts through aborted ‘baby parts’ in new tape – Live Action News
- Planned Parenthood Tells Reporters To Suppress Coverage, Reporters Happily Agree – Sean Davis, The Federalist
- Pray for Those Who Persecute You – James D. Conley, First Things
Fetal Pain
- Senate Will Vote Soon on Pro-Life Bill Banning Late-Term Abortions After 20 Weeks – Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
- Media Promotes Junk Science on Fetal Pain – James Agresti, The Blaze
Healthcare conscience
- Legal victory for March for Life against Obama’s abortion mandate – Lisa Bourne, LifeSiteNews.com
- AUL Supports Conscience Rights of Catholic Nuns; Files 28th Brief Against Obamacare’s Draconian Anti-Life Mandates – Americans United for Life
Adoption
- 'Orphan hosting' boosts adoption odds by bringing children to U.S. to visit families - Erin Richards, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Concerned About Planned Parenthood? Answer God's Call to Adopt – Maranda Gomes, Christian Post
- Adoption, Abortion, and a Message of Hope – J.D. Flynn, First Things
Family
Pro-Marriage divorce reform
- What’s Driving the Marriage Divide? -- Rachel Sheffield, Public Discourse
- Survey: Only 1 in 7 Americans Think Divorce Is a Sin – Samuel Smith, Christian Post
- When Did the Decline of Marriage Begin in America? – Joe Carter, The Gospel Coalition
Human Sexuality (Homosexual/ gender issues)
- Is Homosexuality “Immutable?” Justice Kennedy’s Shaky Bridge to Redefining Marriage -- Peter Sprigg, FRC Blog
- Fact-checking the fact-checkers -- Paul Sullins, MercatorNet
- In Rowan County, Kentucky, a Clerk Answers Revolution with Revolution -- David French, National Review
- "Shut Up, Bigot!": The Intolerance of Tolerance -- Ben R. Crenshaw, Public Discourse
- 'George' Wants You To Know: She's Really Melissa -- Neda Ulaby, National Public Radio
- Scientists discover molecular difference in male, female brains -- Stephen Feller, UPI
- In a first, California agrees to pay for transgender inmate's sex reassignment -- Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times
- University Thwarts Prof’s Attempt to Punish Students for Referring to Men and Women as ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ -- Katherine Timpf, National Review Online
- How Is This Possible? ‘Gay Teens Have Higher Pregnancy Rates Than Their Straight Peers’ – David French, National Review
Pornography
- Hilton to Pull On-Demand Pornography from Hotel Rooms – Heather Clark, Christian News Network
- Freshmen skipping ‘Fun Home’ for moral reasons -- Claire Ballentine, The Chronicle (Duke University)
- Too Graphic -- National Review
- Retailers to Shield Customers from Cosmopolitan Magazine - Lydia Wheeler, The Hill
- Billboard to Expose Harms of Pornography Goes Up in Alabama - National Center on Sexual Exploitation
Human Trafficking
- Amnesty Cites Disability Rights for Legalizing Prostitution - Wendy WrightC-Fam
- Can 'Big Data' stamp out human trafficking? – Maggie Lake, CNN
- Special Report: State Department watered down human trafficking report - Jason Szep and Matt Spetalnick, Reuters
