. . . by urging President Bush to rebuff social conservatives who want to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood
-- From "GOP factions face off on abortion counseling" by Alexander Bolton, posted on TheHill 5/22/08
Illinois residents, CLICK HERE to E-mail your congressman on this Title X issue (HR 4133).
A group of [twelve] centrist House Republicans are squaring off with GOP conservatives on a sensitive issue touching on abortion.
“We read with interest in a recent Hill article that a number of advocacy organizations have urged you to modify Title X regulations,” the group of House Republicans, led by Rep. Mark Kirk (Ill.), wrote in a letter to Bush. “Changing the long-upheld regulations in a way that would restrict access to basic healthcare would be detrimental for many Americans.”
The Hill reported in early May that leading conservative advocacy groups had sent Bush a letter to reinstitute Reagan-era regulations that would strip federal funding for groups counseling patients on abortion.
“I am hopeful that President Bush will follow both President Reagan and his father’s presidency and ensure the non-abortion funding that flows to family planning through Title X does not indirectly support abortion referral or abortion services,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who has discussed the issue with Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt.
Reagan implemented the regulations more than 20 years ago, which the Supreme Court upheld in 1991. Former President Bill Clinton rescinded them shortly after taking office.
Conservatives expected Bush immediately to reinstate the counseling ban, but more than seven years have passed without action.
“We respectfully ask that you make the necessary changes to the Title X regulations, so that U.S. taxpayers’ funds are not used to promote and facilitate abortion,” leading conservative activists wrote in a May letter to Bush. “Collocation of family planning and abortion facilities sends the wrong message, defies congressional intent and should not be allowed.”
Title X provides nearly $300 million to family planning groups [including Planned Parenthood].
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
