Exclusive: Pro-Life Leaders Send Speaker Boehner Urgent Letter on Planned Parenthood Funding
An impressive list of pro-life leaders have sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and others in GOP leadership this afternoon imploring them to hold firm on defunding Planned Parenthood in what is expected to be a possible compromise next week on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government. The Susan B. Anthony List led the effort on this letter.
The Brody File has received an exclusive look at the letter. You can read it in its entirety below or click here to see the PDF. Here is the key paragraph:
“Defunding Planned Parenthood must be a non-negotiable in the Continuing Resolution and we urge you to accept nothing less than this outcome.”
Right now, the House has voted to defund Planned Parenthood in the current CR but the Senate has not touched the issue. Will the GOP Leadership fight for the defunding of Planned Parenthood when a CR goes to conference? That’s the issue. Will they draw a line in the sand? This is a huge moment for the pro-life community.
Letter from pro-life leaders to Speaker Boehner:
February 24, 2011
The Honorable John Boehner
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner,
Planned Parenthood, a scandal-plagued abortion organization, must be held accountable for abusing innocent young victims while receiving hundreds of millions in federal dollars each year.
They must be defunded of federal tax dollars, and now is the time to do it. The House vote in support of Rep. Mike Pence’s Amendment No. 11 to the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (H.R. 1) to prevent government funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is an excellent start.
However, the House vote on the Pence Amendment is nothing more than symbolic unless it remains intact through the legislative process. Defunding Planned Parenthood must be a non-negotiable in the Continuing Resolution and we urge you to accept nothing less than this outcome.
The fact that Planned Parenthood was caught aiding and abetting sex traffickers proves that it is not safe for women and young girls. What goes on in offices and clinics of Planned Parenthood, as Live Action's videos show, is both saddening and shocking. That it has often been done using taxpayer dollars is indefensible.
As the largest abortion company in the United States, Planned Parenthood repeatedly refuses to comply with state statutory rape reporting laws, and often ignores parental consent laws.
Just this week, Phill Kline, former Attorney General of Kansas, testified under oath that Planned Parenthood of Overland Park and the late abortionist George Tiller performed abortions on a combined 166 girls, age fourteen or younger. Out of the 166 cases of statutory rape, just two were reported to authorities, Kline testified.
As debate over the Continuing Resolution continues we urge you to do everything you can to ensure that the Pence Amendment remains intact in the final version of the Continuing Resolution. Planned Parenthood is not safe for women, it is not safe for young girls, and it must be defunded now.
For Life,
Marjorie Dannenfelser
President, Susan B. Anthony List
Lila Rose
President, Live Action
Tom McClusky
Vice President for Government Affairs, FRC
Penny Nance
CEO, Concerned Women for America
Dr. John Willke
President, International Right to Life Federation
Brian Burch
President, CatholicVote.org
David Bereit
National Director, 40 Days for Life
Phyllis Schlafly
Founder and President, Eagle Forum
Phil Burress
President, Citizens for Community Values
Steven Ertelt
Editor, LifeNews.com
Kristan Hawkins
Executive Director, Students for Life of America
Jill Stanek, RN
JillStanek.com
Bradley Mattes
Executive Director, Life Issues Institute
Frank Cannon
President, American Principles Project
Colin A. Hanna
President, Let Freedom Ring
Steven W. Mosher
President, Population Research Institute
Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com
John J. Jakubczyk
Former President, Arizona Right to Life
Mario H. Lopez
President, Hispanic Leadership Fund
Michael Gonidakis
Executive Director, Ohio Right to Life Society
Marie Tasy
Executive Director, New Jersey Right to Life
Tim Broderick
President, People for Life of Erie, Pennsylvania
Jenifer Bowen
Executive Director, Iowa Right to Life
Kevin H. Smith
Executive Director, Cornerstone Action
Matt Smith
Vice President, Catholic Advocate
Rev. Jason J. McGuire
Executive Director, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms
By the way, this letter has also been circulated to the following GOP leadership members:
Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Jeb Hensarling, Tom Price, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, John Carter, Pete Sessions, Greg Walden, Tim Scott, Kristi Noem, Hal Rogers and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.