Deceptions of Democratic Family Planning

If you are following the controversy over the family planning appropriations that were dropped from the Obama administration's economic recovery act, you'll see that no one on the left is willing to discuss taxpayer support for abortions, which will be a natural consequence of the program.

Steve Benen has a post up this morning applauding efforts to get "family planning back on track." He cites Amy Sullivan to claim that the family planning legislation is explicitly not about abortion:

The provision would have allowed states to cover family planning services - but not abortion - that they already cover for low-income women who don't otherwise qualify for Medicaid, just without first requiring states to obtain a waiver from the federal government. That's it.

As always, I'm tempted to call these people befuddled idiots, but the fact is these folks know exactly what they're doing, and thus their scheming is devious and dangerous.

The fact is that the Obama administration's family planning appropiations will funnel money to Planned Parenthood, which is the nation's largest abortion provider. Historically, the organization's main funding sources are the $50 million-plus grants awarded through the federal Title X program, as well as roughly $50 million sent to Planned Parenthood in annual appropriations through Medicaid funding. Planned Parenthood's own website - in a call to supporters - boasts that it receives millions of dollars annually from the federal Title X family planning appropriations.

Moreover, LifeNews reported this week that Congressional Democrats indeed sought funding for abortions in the stimulus bill, with the plan including "a measure to send more public funds to the Planned Parenthood abortion business to fund contraception and birth control." In addition, the National Abortion Federation has sent an e-mail to supporters urging lobbying action "to demand that President Barack Obama restore hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for contraception and abortion."

It's simply a lie to suggest that Democratic family planning funds will not reach providers of abortion services.

But that's not all.

Section 5004 of the Democratic stimulus package is the "State Eligibility Option for Family Planning Services." According to the Heritage Foundation, this item would "make Medicaid into a virtual money-machine for family planning clinics."

As part of that money-machine, the Democratic proposal will provide taxpayer money for family planning services to unpregnant minors. That's right. Under current law, "women of child-bearing age (15-44) are not eligible for Medicaid coverage until after they become pregnant," but the proposed legislation would provide a loophole to extend coverage to these kids. And let me stress that: Girls 15 to 17 years-old are children, not "adult women," so under the bill "a child would be able to receive benefits through a 'presumptive eligibility period' and beyond without parental knowledge that he or she applied for Medicaid."

Further, the availability of services is loosely defined as a "state option" to include "medical diagnosis and treatment services that are provided in conjunction with a family planning service in a family planning setting," and therefore by definition in-term pregnancy termination services. Also, the presumptive eligibility provisions of the law will "give the power to private clinics to provide easy access to so-called 'emergency contraceptives' and be reimbursed with taxpayer dollars."

As we can see, the Democrats are foisting family planning deceptions at multiple levels. By denying that abortion services are included in the Obama recovery plan, we see not only blatant rhetorical evasions by activists and bloggers to delegitimize conservative opposition to family planning, but there's a larger smokescreen of deception to the Democratic social agenda: The left wants to empower children with access to contraceptives and abortion services. Just seeing the definition of "women of child-bearing age" dropped down to 15 years-old is an indication of the repudiation of family prerogatives and conservative values in "progressive" family planning schemes.

The Republican minority in Congress deserves praise, not ridicule, for its unified opposition to the Obama economic "porkulus" package. The Democratic-left, on the other hand, deserves nothing but condemnation for its reign of spineless deceit and its agenda of promotion of social decay.