By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
An amendment introduced by Mike Pence (R-IN) to defund Planned Parenthood could have passed with the votes of 84 Catholic representatives who voted against it.
The bill, which failed to pass by a vote of 183 to 247, would have stripped Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer funding under the Health and Human Services “family planning” or Title X funds. The Title X programs is a major funding source for Planned Parenthood and its affiliates, which receive 23 percent of the annual $317.5 million Title X appropriation.
Lisa Correnti at OneNationUnderGod.org tabulated the vote of the Catholic members of Congress on the Pence Amendment and found that 84 Catholics voted against it while 46 voted for it. Had the 84 Catholics voted in favor of the amendment, it would have passed 267 to 247.
“I hope that every Catholic who voted against the amendment will be receiving a phone or a letter from their local bishop,” writes Deal Hudson of InsideCatholic.com. “It doesn’t need to be made public, but it needs to be done.”
He added: “Planned Parenthood received $350 million in federal funds last year and was responsible for 350,000 abortions. You do the math! Although federal funds cannot pay directly for the abortion procedure, those funds can be used to support ancillary services, such as counseling, that lead to it.”
According to Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s financial report for 2007-2008, the abortion provider brought in a total revenue of $1.038 billion and posted an $85 million profit.
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