On Friday, President Trump signed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by the GOP-controlled House and Senate, which included $500 million in federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
It’s the type of move that makes many Trump supporters, particularly evangelicals, scratch their heads. After all, Trump and many others in the Republican Party have campaigned on the promise of defunding Planned Parenthood entirely. It makes you wonder what Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards and all those organizers of the Women’s March were worried about, considering they get to keep all their federal funding and can also raise more money than ever before.
Just two months ago, Trump became the first sitting president to ever speak at the pro-life rally, March for Life, where he said, “The right to life is fundamental and universal. As your president, I am dedicated to protecting the lives of every American, including the unborn.”
During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump said that Planned Parenthood should continue to receive federal funding so long as they stop performing abortion services. That’s unlikely, as the group performs about 330,000 abortions per year according to its annual reports, or more than one-third of all annual abortions in the U.S.
It’s not just Trump’s fault for signing this bill, every Republican member of Congress who voted for the omnibus bill deserves blame as well. It’s another reminder that the only thing politicians really care about is getting re-elected.
In the meantime, expect Richards to send a gift basket to Trump as a token of her appreciation.
