facebook
rss
twitter
  • About
    • Contact
    • Elementary & Secondary Education Department
    • Social Concerns Department
  • Legislative Review
  • Issues
    • Catholic Education
    • Faith and Politics
    • Health Care
    • Life and Dignity
    • Marriage and Family
    • Religious Liberty
    • Social Justice
  • Bishops’ Statements
    • En Español
  • Resources
    • Bulletin Inserts
    • Church Documents
    • PA Catholic Statistics
    • Related Sites
    • Send A Letter to The Editor
  • Subscribe
    • RSS Feeds
    • Via E-mail
  • Contact
  • Podcast

Bishops to Congress: Defunding Planned Parenthood ‘not one of those hard choices’

April 14, 2011
by Hill
abortion, Congress, defund planned parenthood, defunding, federal funding, h con res 36, planned parenthood, taxpayer funding
Comments are off

In an April 13 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston urged Congress to vote for a resolution to ban federal funding of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In the midst of a budget debate involving shared sacrifice and hard choices, Cardinal DiNardo wrote, “Whether to fund the largest abortion network in the country is not one of those hard choices.”

Cardinal DiNardo is chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Cardinal DiNardo cited a March 4 letter to Congress from Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, which expressed the hope that “funds now provided to organizations that perform abortions… will be redirected to meeting the basic needs of the poor.” Cardinal DiNardo offered additional reasons for supporting H. Con. Res. 36:

  • “First, it is indisputable that Planned Parenthood Federation of America is by far the largest provider and promoter of abortions nationwide, performing about a third of all abortions (332,278 abortions in Fiscal Year 2008-9). Abortions also account for over a third of Planned Parenthood’s income. The organization has aborted over 5 million unborn children since 1970.”
  • “Second, the organization’s involvement in abortion (now including chemical abortions using RU-486) has substantially increased in recent years, and its provision of other services such as prenatal care and adoption referrals has declined markedly. Now the national organization insists that all affiliates provide abortions by 2013, a mandatory policy that has led at least one affiliate to leave the organization.”
  • “Third, the organization has led numerous legislative campaigns and litigation strategies to oppose any meaningful limits on abortion, including modest measures such as public funding bans, informed consent provisions, and parental notice requirements for abortions on unemancipated minors. One of Planned Parenthood’s legislative priorities is to oppose conscience clauses (which it calls “refusal clauses”), so that hospitals, physicians and nurses will not be allowed to serve the health care needs of women without taking part in abortion.”

Cardinal DiNardo wrote that some, in an effort to divert the discussion away from abortion, have tried to make the debate about women’s access to basic health care. He noted that Catholic and other religiously affiliated health care providers generally do provide mammograms, prenatal and maternity care for women, while Planned Parenthood does not.

“To the extent that Planned Parenthood does provide any legitimate health services for women, however, those services can be provided by others, since H. Con. Res. 36 does not reduce funding for services by one cent,” Cardinal DiNardo wrote. “Therefore the question at issue here is: When low-income women need these legitimate health care services, should the federal government insist that they receive them from the local abortion provider?”

Social Share
  • google-share

News From Around PA

  • Pope Francis’ June 2023 Prayer Intention | Watch Video
  • Oficina para Católicos Hispanos: Boletín Informativo, Junio 2023
  • Bishop Bambera to celebrate Mass for Priest Jubilarians June 8
  • Diocese of Scranton to celebrate annual Wedding Anniversary Mass on Sunday, June 4
  • Pastoral Associate/ Minister, full time, Saints Martha and Mary Parish. Hampton Township
  • Part-time Administrative Assistant, Seton LaSalle Catholic High School, Mt. Lebanon
Click To Read More

Post Archives

Unable to load Tweets

Follow

Recent Posts

Debate in PA House on House Bill 300; Exposing Underlying Components
May 03, 2023
This Week at the PA Capitol: Debate on the “Fairness Bill”
Apr 27, 2023
PA Sen. Judy Ward Talks About Real Alternatives and Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Apr 17, 2023

All Issues

  • Catholic Education
  • Faith and Politics
  • Health Care
  • Life and Dignity
  • Marriage and Family
  • Religious Liberty
  • Social Justice

banner

Sign up to join the Catholic Advocacy Network today!

CClogo© 2021 Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Bookmark and Share Site by Halibut Blue® | Login