The Politics of Abortion

Hot Air posted an article today about a recent statement by Democrat National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.

The article reports:

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez became the first head of the party to demand ideological purity on abortion rights, promising Friday to support only Democratic candidates who back a woman’s right to choose.

“Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health,” Perez said in a statement. “That is not negotiable and should not change city by city or state by state.”

“At a time when women’s rights are under assault from the White House, the Republican Congress, and in states across the country,” he added, “we must speak up for this principle as loudly as ever and with one voice.”

Has anyone really thought this through? They are fighting for a woman’s right to kill her child because the child is inconvenient, not perfect, not wanted, etc. I am sure it is simple coincidence that one of the major contributors to Democratic political campaigns is Planned Parenthood, a million dollar business that performs the majority of abortions in America.

As I have previously stated, I do not support making abortions illegal–there may be times when an abortion is necessary to protect the live of the mother. However, I don’t believe that abortion should be a multi million dollar industry. Planned Parenthood specializes in abortion. They provide minimal healthcare for women in other areas. Planned Parenthood is a major contributor to Democratic political campaigns. The Democratic Party is simply protecting a major source of their funding.

It is time to re-evaluate abortion in America.

This is a picture of abortion in America in 2016 (from the Guttmacher Institute):

As you can see, the majority of abortions in America are performed on poor minority women. Our goal should be to help these women with birth control–not kill their children.

 

 

Elections Have Consequences

I need to state before I write this that most people would consider me pro-life. I don’t want to make abortion illegal–I believe there are times when abortion is necessary to save a woman’s life. I want the procedure to be available during those times. However, I don’t want abortion to be a million dollar industry not required to follow the same health regulations as hospitals. I also don’t want my taxpayer money used to pay for abortions and to facilitate the selling of aborted baby body parts. Well, I finally have an administration in Washington that represents my point of view.

The Hill is reporting today that President Trump has reinstated the so-called Mexico City policy, which bans foreign aid or federal funding for international nongovernmental organizations that provide or “promote” abortions.

The Mexico City policy was put in place in 1984 and rescinded by President Obama in 2009.

The article reports:

Republicans quickly praised the order as an advancement of “pro-life” policies that protect taxpayer funds.

“Life is a precious and sacred gift, and we must do all we can to protect it,” said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), chairman of the House’s health subcommittee.

“I applaud President Trump for taking this important action and look forward to continuing to work together in advancing pro-life policies and protecting taxpayer dollars.”
Democrats denounced the order as reflecting a “dangerous obsession” with rolling back reproductive rights.
 
“President Trump’s reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule ignores decades of research, instead favoring ideological politics over women and families,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in a statement.

I have never understood how killing your unborn child was a reproductive right. Science has shown us that life begins very early (some scientists believe at conception). What right do we have to terminate another life for our own convenience?

The article reminds us:

Trump’s ban could impact foreign organizations like the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPFF), which provides family planning services in more than 180 countries.
 
While organizations can choose to comply with the policy, and keep U.S. funding, IPPF chose to give up their federal funding when President George W. Bush reinstated the policy after he took office.
 
When Obama reinstated the policy in 2009, it came with a new focus on women’s reproductive health in poor countries.
 
The 2016 U.S. budget included $607.5 million in funding for reproductive health internationally, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Helping women in foreign countries kill their children is not a foreign policy I support. I am glad to see it changed.

Senator Ernst Has Taken Action

Yesterday The Weekly Standard reported that Senator Joni Ernst has introduced a bill into the Senate to defund Planned Parenthood. The bill does not impact any other healthcare programs. The bill is two pages long and easy to understand.

This is the main part of the bill:

defundPlannedParenthoodBill

The article includes the following:

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the Senate will vote on the measure before the congressional August recess. A third undercover video was also released today further documenting Planned Parenthood’s practice of harvesting and selling the organs of aborted babies.

Abortion needs to be legal in the rare cases it is necessary to save the life of the mother. However, that is not what is driving the abortion industry. Abortions make money. Unfortunately, it has become a very profitable industry. The Guttmacher Institute reports that there were 1.05 million abortions in the US in 2012. It also reports that 4.8% of abortions in the US occurred from week 16 of pregnancy to week 32. We may not be able to stop the killing, but at least we can stop funding it.