After eight consecutive years of quietly funneling hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars annually to the nation's largest abortion provider, the county board unanimously rescinded a $290,000 contract due to increased public scrutiny and outcry.
A Pro-life organization is now being considered as an alternative source to provide health education to youth and children.
-- From "Orange County board votes to suspend Planned Parenthood contract" by Tami Abdollah, Los Angeles Times 3/11/09
Saying they could not abide funding an organization that performs abortions, Orange County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to suspend a contract with Planned Parenthood to provide health education for thousands of teens and preteens.
The decision to suspend the $291,788 education grant came after nearly two hours of impassioned public and Board of Supervisors discussion. The curriculum includes information about anatomy, physiology and seven kinds of birth control -- including abstinence -- as well as about sexually transmitted diseases.
Many of the supervisors spoke of their religious and moral views while discussing the contract.
[Board Supervisor John] Moorlach brought up the issue in a meeting last month when he said he was surprised that Planned Parenthood was receiving county money. He said staff had not fully disclosed the 18 clinics that would be receiving money before supervisors voted on the contract.
. . . said Supervisor Bill Campbell, "Funding an organization that provides abortions is not something I'd like to do."
Board Chairwoman Pat Bates warned her colleagues that they could be wandering into the realm of "abuse of discretion." She noted that many hospitals funded by the county also perform abortions.
To read the entire article (above), CLICK HERE.
From "Orange County official considers shifting Planned Parenthood funds to an antiabortion group" by Tami Abdollah, Los Angeles Times 3/14/09
. . . a county supervisor is considering whether the money should go instead to a group that describes itself as a "pro-life ministry" and uses ultrasound viewings and biblical material to counsel women.
"I can't be an advocate of what Planned Parenthood is," Supervisor Bill Campbell said. "Most organizations try to explain to the women every option there is available, and there's a nuance to these explanations, and that would be protecting the health of the mother and the child."
To that end, Campbell is looking at Birth Choice Health Clinics as an option.
Birth Choice's "Teen Integrity" program educates teens on "the importance of building satisfying and mature relationships free from sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and heartache, by promoting abstinence until marriage," according to its website.
. . . the program teaches about contraception but is an "abstinence-based" program.
Much of Birth Choice's website references God, Jesus and Christianity. . . . the program offers both faith-based and non-faith-based education programs.
To read the entire article (above), CLICK HERE.
Read the Los Angeles Time editorial condemning the defunding of Planned Parenthood
