WSR: 2023-12-13

In This Issue

• Republicans Release Report Proving They Never Defund Planned Parenthood
• The fight for abortion in Ohio continues. See what is happening now.
• We need your help to spread the word!

Republicans Release Report Proving They Never Defund Planned Parenthood

By Ed Martin

We have some news that is really just the same old story.

This week, Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee released a Government Accountability Office report that catalogs that nearly $2 billion of taxpayer dollars has been given to Planned Parenthood over a three-year period. Wow! That’s a lot, and that’s not good. 

But it’s also not news. We at STOPP applaud this report, but we must point out: We told you so!

Let us give credit where credit is due: Some new details emerged from this government report that are helpful to know. For example, nearly $90 million of COVID pandemic money (PPP) went to Planned Parenthood. The report describes the reality that Planned Parenthood continues to be funded by bipartisan funding packages. For all their talk, Republicans have not defunded Planned Parenthood. We encourage Congress to continue to push for more transparency in all funding and to be clear that they are voting for abortion funding.

Many legislators explain votes to fund abortion killing in these massive spending packages with this excuse: “Planned Parenthood does more than just abortion.” They usually list education, counseling, and “health services” in this category. But this is a lie, as all of this spending is aimed at persuading women to abort and to undermine the fight for life.

In addition, Planned Parenthood has moved into the “contraception” racket claiming that women deserve contraception and that government should pay for it. While this is a HUGE moneymaker for Planned Parenthood, it is also part of why Planned Parenthood tries to call abortion drugs “emergency contraception.”

So, to be clear, we see that our federal legislators—in BOTH PARTIES—massively fund Planned Parenthood. Will this flow of money ever stop? 

Now comes an article in the left-leaning website Politico, which tells us that three Republican feminist, political lobbyists have announced their plan to convince Republicans to fund mandatory contraceptives as a way to win more elections. 

So, their terrible plan is to try to distract voters from abortion by funding contraception. But they don’t admit that the recipient of the contraception money under Title X will be Planned Parenthood. 

The reality is that Planned Parenthood is receiving our tax dollars and using it for abortion. All of the other gamesmanship around funding and uses of funding is the corruption of the modern American government.

STOPP will shine a light on all spending and hold all the elected officials accountable.

The Fight for Abortion Continues in Ohio

By Katherine Van Dyke

Abortion in Ohio has been the subject of news for months, especially now that 56.6% of Ohioans voted to add it to their state constitution. However, a new development has occurred with a ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

While the court made the decision to temporarily uphold the Biden administration’s 2021 ruling on Title X recipients’ ability to refer Ohio patients for abortion upon their request, the court also granted a preliminary injunction to the state of Ohio “blocking federal agency rules that allow Title X recipients to offer Title X services and abortion services in the same location, so long as the operations are sufficiently separate.” 

Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio was one of the loudest voices on this issue because it receives a Title X grant annually, and this ruling could impact its ability to refer women to get abortions and receive more federal money by forcing them out of the program.

The news initially broke on November 30 in Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s press release, which opened with the following:

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a ruling in Ohio v. Becerra, which involves a challenge brought by Ohio and ten other states to the Biden administration’s Title X rule. Today’s ruling upholds the requirement that Title X providers offer pregnant patients an abortion referral upon the patient’s request. However, the Sixth Circuit found that the current rule does not require adequate separation between abortion care and the services provided under Title X, like birth control and STI care, creating confusion about the future of family planning services. The court granted only Ohio’s request for a preliminary injunction, meaning the ruling affects Ohio alone at this time.

Though thrilled that they can still refer women to get an abortion and receive their Title X money, PP Action Fund’s statement above also echoes fear that another Trump-administration-type “gag rule” could occur again if the court seriously considered the challenge from the states to refuse Title X funding to groups that offer abortion services in the same location—a rule that forced Planned Parenthood to leave the program for a few years. 

STOPP obtained the opinion itself from an NBC article which lists the 11 states challenging the court to review if Planned Parenthood and other clinics are adhering to the separation in Title X services. The 11 states are Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia, though Ohio is the only state in question right now. These states argue that the “organization’s Title X grant eligibility caused irreparable harm to the state of Ohio” as Title X saw its funding decrease “about 20% once Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio was again eligible for the program” in 2021. This means that the status of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio’s Title X funding is now in the district court’s hands for review.

So, what does this all mean? Should the district court make the decision that Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio is no longer eligible for a Title X grant, the organization could be forced to leave the program again and receive less of our federal money. It also means that Planned Parenthood again finds itself in a position to fight back strongly against the court and in Ohio. Though the federal ruling on Title X has gone back and forth regarding whether Title X services and abortions can happen in the same location, it is worth noting that “Title X eligibility rules have always required separate finances for abortion services and Title X programs.”

According to Erica Wilson-Domer, president and CEO at Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, “While we are thrilled that the Sixth Circuit opinion reaffirms our patients’ right to receive medically accurate information and abortion referrals, we must continue our efforts combating anti-abortion initiatives that circumvent the will of the people and restrict access to constitutionally protected health care in Ohio.”

Though time will tell what will happen to PP of Greater Ohio’s Title X funding, STOPP will be keeping an eye out to report what happens next once the district court makes its decision on whether Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio can remain in Title X’s program.

​Call ​to ​Action

This end is a new beginning! As we say goodbye to 2023, we are planning for a big, big 2024.

We want your input and ideas. And we want to share about STOPP in 2024. Please join ALL executive vice president Hugh Brown for a special end-of-the-year STOPP phone update. The call will take place at 1pm ET on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.

This off-the-record and private call will highlight our progress in 2023 and talk about how we will charge into 2024 full speed to stop Planned Parenthood. The forces arrayed against us—big money, big media, and big government—are our usual opponents, but our approaches are changing so we can win even more.

Hugh will be joined by STOPP director, Ed Martin, and others to talk about upcoming activities.

Please email ed@ALL.org to receive the information for the conference call. If you cannot join us on Wednesday, December 20, at 1pm ET/10am PT, we will have an audio recording of the call that will be available.

God bless you and your family in the final days before the celebration of Christmas.