By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

A major grassroots pro-life group has learned that a bill scheduled to be rushed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week could become a referral service for Planned Parenthood.

According to a press release from Judie Brown of the American Life League, H.R. 211 will set up a nationwide 2-1-1 phone number (similar to 9-1-1) that would be used as a referral mechanism for those seeking social services and volunteer opportunities.

“In the hands of the Obama administration – Planned Parenthood’s very own marketing and outreach team – this number could easily be used to ‘help’ women find ‘comprehensive reproductive health care,’” Brown said. “Translation: This number will probably be used to direct unsuspecting, confused pregnant women to Planned Parenthood and other abortion mills – courtesy of you, the taxpayer.”

H.R. 211 is poised to become yet another boon for Planned Parenthood – an organization that received $350 million in government grants and contracts during the 2007-08 financial year and netted $85 million in profit.

“This bill is a clever attempt to further ensconce Planned Parenthood in communities by disguising it as just another nonprofit social service organization,” Brown observed. “But the truth about Planned Parenthood is much more insidious: It’s an organization dedicated to profiteering from abortion and the sexualization of young people.”

Section 4 (a) of the bill authorizes $150 million annually for 2009-2010 and $100 million annually for 2011-2014, as grants to the states for program implementation. Section 4 (b) makes these amounts available until expended.