Church supports Senate proposal to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood in Indiana

By Brigid Curtis Ayer

What can one person do to end abortion? This is a question that college student Lila Rose and several other pro-life, young adults asked themselves. (Related story: Looking for a New Year’s resolution?)

The answer—Live Action: The Mona Lisa Project —is a young-adult-led, pro-life media project aimed at exposing the true nature and purpose of Planned Parenthood through undercover videos recorded inside the walls of the nation’s largest abortion provider.

These videos, which are posted online at www.liveaction.org, exposed Planned Parenthood’s repeated failure to report child sexual abuse and their counseling tactics to encourage teenage mothers to abort rather than carry their children to full term.

These actions, recorded in Bloomington and Indianapolis Planned Parenthood clinics, prompted Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) to introduce a bill which would remove all state funding for Planned Parenthood.

The Indiana Catholic Conference supports the legislation.

Glenn Tebbe, ICC executive director said, “The Catholic Church supports the efforts of this legislation, and we will be actively lobbying members of the Indiana General Assembly and working with Indiana Right to Life to pass the bill.”

Senate Bill 198, which was introduced in the Indiana Senate on Jan. 5, would prohibit state agencies from entering into any contracts with or making grants to Planned Parenthood. In addition, it would nullify any existing state contracts or grants effective the day the bill passes.

“There are federal and state monies that are allocated by the state of Indiana to service providers,” Sen. Walker said. “We can find alternative service providers.”

The Hyde amendment, a federal law, prohibits the federal government from directly funding abortion. But it does not prohibit other grants or funding for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood to provide other services.

“Planned Parenthood does not receive state money specifically for abortion procedures,” Sen. Walker said. “However, if they have money for their other activities that are not producing income, then it gives them more profit and money to plow back into their other activities.”

When asked exactly how much money Planned Parenthood is receiving from the state, Sen. Walker responded, “That’s one of the most frustrating parts about this issue and another reason for the bill. We can’t seem to get a straight answer from anyone on how much funding Planned Parenthood is actually getting through the state.”

Sen. Walker estimates that direct grants to Planned Parenthood amount to a few hundred thousand dollars a year. “A direct inquiry by myself and other legislators like Rep. Jackie Walorski

[R-Elkhart] as to exactly how much state money is going to Planned Parenthood have been ignored.”

Sue Swayze, an Indiana Right to Life lobbyist who has been working with Sen. Walker to piece together Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s state funding stream, said, “In 2008, Indiana Planned Parenthood’s 990 tax form indicated its revenue exceeded expenses by $2.1 million. In that same year, it received taxpayer subsidies of almost $2.9 million, an estimated $1.8 million of which was state controlled dollars.”

Swayze and others are asking the same question: “In a time when state revenue is down, and we are cutting

K-12 education, why are we giving Planned Parenthood a bailout to the tune of nearly $2 million in taxpayer dollars?”

“Other than the goal of shutting Planned Parenthood down, the main goal of the legislation is education,” Sen. Walker said. “I want to inform the leaders in Indiana and Hoosiers at large about the intentions of Planned Parenthood.”

Sen. Walker said he is hopeful but uncertain if Senate Bill 198 will get a hearing. It is one of 20 proposals that have been assigned to the Senate Commerce and Public Policy & Interstate Cooperation Committee, which meets on Wednesday afternoons, but it has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Sen. Ron Alting (R-Lafayette), who chairs the committee and will decide whether the bill gets a public hearing, was unavailable for comment.

Courtney Smith, a spokesperson for Sen. Alting said, “Since the bill was just introduced, Sen. Alting has not had a chance to review it, but plans to do so and talk to the bill’s author before he schedules the bill for a hearing.”

To get involved in the legislative process, visit the ICC Web page at www.indianacc.org and click “Legislative Action Center” to begin.

(Bridget Curtis Ayer is a correspondent for The Criterion.) †