Last week, an op-ed written by MCCL's Bill Poehler was published in the Star Tribune, discussing taxpayer funded abortion, the recent pro-abortion health care overhaul and Planned Parenthood's abortion agenda.
Rhonda Degelau, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, took issue with MCCL's claim that the new health care law allows for federal funding of abortions at community health centers (CHCs). While I applaud Degelau for presumably not wanting to be involved in abortion -- and her organization probably does a lot of important work at CHCs -- she is mistaken about the effect of the law. It certainly does open the door to direct abortion funding; see here, as well as this letter from Prof. Robert Destro, an expert on abortion-related litigation.
Then, last Friday, Dr. Andrew Good wrote an op-ed response to the MCCL piece. He claims that "a presidential order is in place prohibiting federal funds [through health care reform] from being used for abortions in community health centers."
It's true that President Obama signed an executive order, purportedly to prevent federal dollars from being used to fund abortions. But experts agree that it has no force and will do nothing to prevent abortion funding. Dr. Good is simply misinformed.
He continues: "It's important to note that the [sic] MCCL has never in its history recommended a plan to prevent unintended pregnancy beyond abstinence. It has never provided preventive health care to those in need."
Here Dr. Good seems a bit confused. MCCL doesn't get involved in sexual ethics at all, nor do we provide health care; that's not the kind of organization we are. We are a pro-life organization, dedicated to educating people about the dignity of human life and working to ensure legal protection for innocent human beings at every stage of development.
Dr. Good goes on to imply that Planned Parenthood's work reduces the number of abortions. But this is bizarre, since Planned Parenthood is the leading performer of abortions in the state. And the facts tell a different story. The number of abortions performed each year by Planned Parenthood keeps increasing, even as total abortions in the state go down. And the more money it receives from the government, the more abortions it performs and the more its revenues increase -- abortion is a business, after all, and a profitable one.
That's why government funding of Planned Parenthood must be stopped.
