We Can Defund Planned Parenthood if We Want To. Here’s How.

We Can Defund Planned Parenthood if We Want To. Here’s How. July 31, 2015

Photo Source: Flickr Creative Commons by Ron Cogswell Photo Source: Flickr Creative Commons by
Photo Source: Flickr Creative Commons by Ron Cogswell Photo Source: Flickr Creative Commons by

If our elected officials truly want to defund Planned Parenthood — as opposed to using it for a campaign issue — they can.

First we have to defund the half billion or so of over the counter money that goes to PP. Part of this involves transferring these monies to other entities. I am totally opposed to creating another form of “privatized” health care funding, which is what PP is. All we need to do is transfer the monies to the various city, county and state health departments with strong language about how it must be used and penalties for mis-use.

These are already existing facilities who do a lot of this same kind of work now.

The real trick is to pry the $$ loose from PP in the first place. I offer a plan for doing this, as well as an explanation for why the move the United States Senate is making now is a no-go, in a post I wrote for the National Catholic Register.

I want to emphasize that I am not saying that we can’t get this done. I am saying that we can’t get it done by the methods that the Senate is currently using.

Too many so-called pro-life Senators say things like “I’d like to defund Planned Parenthood, but, we need to do this or that corporatist thing first because pro life is really, you know, a distraction from the serious business of government.” You can take it to the bank that this guy or gal ain’t never gonna do anything but vote pro life out in public when they are forced to and that they will cut pro life concerns off at the knees in the back rooms where none of us can see.

It’s up to us, the pro life people of America, to pressure them to stop playing politics with this, and get serious about making it happen. We are the babies’ only voice.

From the National Catholic Register:

Without this bill, we face a long slog through other amendments on less important bills or a standalone bill, all of which are unlikely to make it to law. It appears that what Majority Leader McConnell has set up is a vote or votes that are doomed to fail so far as lawmaking goes, but that will make nice fodder for the upcoming campaign. —Rebecca Hamilton

I quoted myself at the top of this post. It’s not often that I get to be a prophet … and in a 24-hour turnaround, no less.

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) announced Wednesday that she had filed a bill that would (drum roll) “defund Planned Parenthood!!!!” Her first co-author is none less than (trumpet fanfare) Majority Leader Mitch McConnell!!!!

Then, Majority Leader McConnell (bring out the sparklers) said that the Senate will “vote” on the bill as early as next week!!!!

Attaboy!

Attagirl!

We got ‘em! Planned Parenthood is doomed, I say — dooooomed.

Just out of curiosity: Is anybody out there actually believing this? Because if you are, I’ve got some land in Florida and a bridge in Brooklyn that we need to talk about.

Remember when I wrote about tactics, strategy and all that stuff? Well, what we are seeing here is a short course in Political Tactics 101. The trouble is, these tactics are being used against us, not for us.

There isn’t going to be a straight-up, standalone statute go into law defunding Planned Parenthood. Will. Not. Happen.

Why?

Let me count the ways.

 


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