Of the many issues that split the political parties, none is so polarizing as abortion. It’s fairly easy to spot which group a voter belongs to solely based on how they view the topic. There are a few exceptions, but generally, Democrats believe ending life in the womb is a reproductive “right” while Republicans are eager to extend protection to those most vulnerable inhabitants.
While changing the culture of death in the United States is ultimately a grassroots struggle, there are legislative victories we must demand and support. One is the defunding of the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. Their latest annual report lists government funding at $543.7 million. Only a few pages prior to the financials is listed the number of abortions performed. In the last year, these “women’s healthcare” clinics have ended the lives of 321,384 unique individuals, all in the name of choice. And they’re using our taxpayer dollars to accomplish this daily destruction.
No cause for concern, though. GOP politicians, both incumbents and newcomers, have it all under control. The electorate is routinely reminded that defunding of the abortion giant is at the top of the GOP priority list. The talking point is well received on the campaign trail and frequently recited in front of eager crowds. A vast majority of Republican supporters list abortion as their number one issue and vote accordingly. But nothing has been done legislatively.
Sen. Rand Paul’s failed amendment to the appropriations package, which would have quashed the massive federal resource, is further proof that Republicans are not serious about protecting life. He said as much on the Senate floor.
“The dirty little secret is the Republican leadership is blocking my amendment,” Paul said, asking, “What is more important to these Republicans? Saving lives or spending money?”
The vote was eventually held and defeated 45-48, nowhere near the 60 votes necessary. As expected, abortion-supporting Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski of Maine and Alaska, sided with Planned Parenthood and their allies.
Regardless of the expected result, Paul’s stand raises some important questions: Just how much do Republican legislators care about unborn lives? How many election cycles must the pro-life community be told to expect change, or at the very least, solid attempts, once these politicians get to Washington, D.C.? Millions upon millions of innocent victims have been slaughtered in our “land of the free” since Roe v. Wade and the government diverts half a billion dollars to the cause. Meanwhile, members of the congressional GOP focus on topics they consider to be more significant while simultaneously hoping their counterparts down the road will be the ones to tackle the sensitive issue.
As John McCormack of The Weekly Standard remarked online, there has been more than one failed attempt to address Planned Parenthood funding. And Rand Paul shares some of the blame:
Lot of congressional Republicans, including Rand Paul, bear responsibility for failing to do this when they had the votes to do it in 2017. https://t.co/yOpP6veSBI https://t.co/ecOtIcOHaJ
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) August 24, 2018
Included in the items listed, where the GOP could have acted against the nation’s largest abortion mill, is the so-called “skinny repeal” bill of Obamacare, the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill, and the tax reform bill. Routinely, Republican leadership will avoid any inclusion of a cut to Planned Parenthood funding because of the aforementioned Collins and Murkowski. But with Graham-Cassidy, Rand Paul was instrumental in helping to kill it.
A supposedly pro-life Congress, presided over by a pro-life president, is an abject failure when it comes to considering unborn Americans.
It’s not as if Planned Parenthood needs federal funding. They do just fine on their own through private donations. More importantly, it’s not as if Planned Parenthood deserves federal funding. Abortions are their biggest moneymaker, despite their claim. Furthermore, money is fungible. No matter how often they insist taxpayer dollars don’t go to stop the beating hearts of those precious lives, the $543.7 million given to them by the federal government subsidizes a thriving business of death. Nothing else matters. On top of that, Planned Parenthood clinics are outnumbered 20-to-1 by comprehensive women’s healthcare clinics that don’t end the lives of the unborn.
A necessity for women in America? I think not.
While politicians are much to blame, those who place them in office are at fault, too. Voters can directly affect whether Congress is filled with those who support life or those who are nonchalantly aligned with death. For too long, Collins and Murkowski have been allied with other abortion supporters in that body. If the GOP is the party of life, why are those two still there? If Republican lawmakers want to make a true difference on the issue that matters the most, they should unabashedly call out their spineless peers and not look back.
Pro-lifers need more than weak and ineffectual efforts by congressional Republicans. We need more than reassurance that something will be done. We hear these politicians discuss their passion for defending life in stump speeches and during political roundtables, but mere rhetoric only goes so far.
We want action. More than anything, those unknown, unborn lives deserve unflinching support. Disallowing taxpayer funding from being used by the ghouls who prey upon them would be a start.
But don’t expect any real movement from Republicans on Capitol Hill. They’re too busy to be bothered.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a senior contributor at RedState.com.
