TOPEKA – Below is a written response by Kansans For Life Executive Director Mary Kay Culp.
Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, on Friday line-item vetoed from the wrap-up budget bill a provision aimed at blocking Planned Parenthood from receiving money for family planning services.
The money, a federal grant disseminated by the state, cannot be used for abortion services and helps fund Planned Parenthood’s clinics in Hays and Wichita.
Below is the response:
“Any hopes that Governor Parkinson was better than Sebelius on life issues just flew out the window with this veto in which he gives Planned Parenthood priority over public health clinics without him even having the guts to mention the nation’s single largest abortion provider, by name.
The Governor purposely gave the wrong impression when saying the budget went against the rules. This budget didn’t ban Planned Parenthood from getting one dime–they would remain on the list to receive funds. It simply re-prioritized the order of which entities got funds first.
When a private organization like Planned Parenthood gets tax dollars it frees up their private funds to pay lobbyists to troll for more tax funds, not to mention lobby against state abortion regulations. And even if the money goes to their clinics that don’t do abortions, again, it frees up the private money they have available for their clinics that do. In addition, even those clinics that don’t do abortions, refer for them.
By the Governor putting Planned Parenthood at the top, rather than the bottom of the list, he is saying he doesn’t care that they perform abortions, doesn’t care that they lobby to keep all abortions, even partial-birth abortions, legal, and doesn’t care that they are in trouble across the country for breaking state laws, including our own. But his veto does likely show that like Sebelius, Governor Parkinson appreciates that, unlike public health clinics, Planned Parenthood has a political arm that works to influence elections. .
There is no reason to give Planned Parenthood tax funding priority when the same services can be provided just as easily, and much less politically, by our public health clinics.”
13 Comments
Seriously, why does planned parenthood need MY money so much? Why can’t it manage to stay in business on it’s own like most legit businesses?
Kansans for Life is a pro-abortion group. It’s well known that funding for Planned Parenthood goes to things like contraception, sex education, prenatal care and not abortions. Since they didn’t want PP to get these funds they were hoping the number of abortions would increase, that way they could make financial appeals to stop abortion.
The day abortion is outlawed these folks will have to find real work, hence the reason they want more abortions.
he is as sorry as obama, and sebelius. thank goodness i am no longer a registered democrat. we need an Independent candidate with brains. we sure arent going to get them from the republicans or the dumbocrats.
Planned Parenthood isn’t a business. It’s a non-profit organization which provides family planning, something that many Americans don’t seem able to do.
Planned Parenthood provides essential services to young women who cannot otherwise afford these services. They do very important work for women and children.
Dollars are fungible. Planned Parenthood will use tax dollars to paid for “permissible” things and then shift money they would otherwise have spent on those things to their cash cow—abortions.
Indirectly, tax dollars now go to subsidize abortion. Period.
So much for “pro-choice” I certainly didn’t choose to be taxed for this. A majority of Kansans and their legislators voted against it.
This taxpayer subsidy of abortions continues for one reason: Governor Mark Parkinson.
Brownback for Governor!
So you answer is for all the women who depend on Planned Parenthood for their reproductive health care to go elsewhere? You can be seen for a non-emergency visit at PP in 24 hours – they have the facility, the expertise and are kind. Leave them alone. We all have things that our tax dollars go to that we don’t like (the war for example) so get over it. These $$ go to the clinics in Wichita and Hays, neither of which perform abortions.
Go volunteer at the Children’s Home, go teach a sex ed class – go do something productive. Instead of trying to deny the women that need help the most.
Howserfan Posted May 22, 2009 at 4:38 pm | Permalink Dollars are fungible. Planned Parenthood will use tax dollars to paid for “permissible” things and then shift money they would otherwise have spent on those things to their cash cow—abortions.
Let me get this straight:
Planned Parent uses their government funds in a perfectly legal manner (for pregnancy prevention) and then shifts other funds specified for those particular activies to help fund yet another perfectly legal procedure (Abortion).
Where’s the problem?
Deja-vu: You mean legitimate businesses like Chryler and GM? Do you mind your money supporting conpanies that have been mismanaged by greedy management and hamstrung by ineffictive non-competetive unions? I would prefer my tax dollars not be spent on either abortions or GM and Chrysler. Take the time to understand Planned Parenthood and maybe you will realize they serve a portion of the population that has little or no access to care otherwise. If a woman, or a man, take the time to utilize their services don’t you think we can reduce the need for more abortions and create a healthier environment especially for women. Not all people using their services are after a free abortion. Most of them are probably trying to prevent it and be healthier to begin with.
Next time you have a thought….let it go!
Deja-vu: You mean legitimate businesses like Chryler and GM? Do you mind your money supporting conpanies that have been mismanaged by greedy management and hamstrung by ineffictive non-competetive unions? I would prefer my tax dollars not be spent on either abortions or GM and Chrysler. Take the time to understand Planned Parenthood and maybe you will realize they serve a portion of the population that has little or no access to care otherwise. If a woman, or a man, take the time to utilize their services don’t you think we can reduce the need for more abortions and create a healthier environment especially for women. Not all people using their services are after a free abortion. Most of them are probably trying to prevent it and be healthier to begin with.
Next time you have a thought….let it go! BTW I love your blog!
The name says it all; “Planned Parenthood”. Who knows that the Public Health Clinics do that? They know that Planned Parenthood does. Planning when and how many children you have seems like a pretty good idea, especially if you can do it without having an abortion. That’s what Planned Parenthood is primarily about. They may help some get abortions, but abortion isn’t their first priority. Helping to avoid unwanted pregnancies without abortions is their first priority. Some of the people who are anti-abortion are often the same ones who complain about the state welfare helping single moms and will do nothing to help them themselves. The majority of abortions probably have no medical reason. It’s a shame that too many girls get pregnant before they are ready to be mothers. It’s been happening from the begining of time, so it’s nothing new. But society still doesn’t deal with it well. The shame is on our whole society, not just these young women. The scorn and the lack of help and lack of good sex education is what drives a lot of girls to have abortions in the first place. At least abortion is legal and safe for these poor women who have enough to mourn and feel guilty about after they have an abortion. That’s right, abortion isn’t just a medical proceedure, it is taking a potential life and eventually the woman realizes that, even if she tries not to. No woman should use abortion as birth control and no woman should have unprotected sex unless she and the man she is having it with are ready to be parents. That’s the way it ought to be, but that’s rarely the way it is. Some people have just been lucky enough not to get pregnant when having unprotected sex. But now we have a lot more to worry about with unprotected sex than pregnancy; there is a long list of STDs including HIV/AIDs to worry about. Planned Parenthood is on the front line in helping to prevent STDs and HIV/AIDs as well as pregnancy, especially among vulnerable poor people that don’t have the money for condomes, healthcare and medications. Planned Parenthood is there to help them without judgemental attitudes, instead they help them with education and resources so they can make better decisions and choices. If only they could get to more of these young women sooner so they could prevent even more unwanted pregnancies and STDs and HIV?AIDs. Can the Right to Life folks do that? If they can, why haven’t they? That is what they should be asking themselves. Some have helped, but with love and acceptance and resources not judgement and condemnation. Most of the young women and girls going for abortions have already had enough of that and it has often driven them away from their church, sorry to say.
Planned Parenthood doesn’t deserve one dime of my tax money. They are a pro-abortion lobbying group that supports a far left wing feminist agenda. The cover story is they try to give health care to poor women and “prevent” unwanted pregnancy. How much did they contribute to the Ex-governor’s campaign? The answer is plenty. This is just payback in hopes of future contributions.
The following correction to our original comments about the Parksinson veto were sent out the same afternoon at 4:00 p.m., evidently after the Eagle had posted the original.
The correction from Kansans for Life said:
Earlier I stated that the Title X budget proviso vetoed by the Governor didn’t ban Planned Parenthood from getting Title X money, and just re-prioritized them to the bottom of the list. That was evidently incorrect.
While the proviso didn’t mention Planned Parenthood nor “ban” anything, it is true that the two tier prioritization giving funds first to public entities, and second to private hospitals or Federally Qualified Health Centers (there are a total of 68 such public and private entities in Kansas) means no such funds would be given to Planned Parenthood, and several similar organizations that do not meet those standards.
However, having said that, the Governor was wrong in the last paragraph of his veto message to imply that it is illegal or against the rules for a state to choose among eligible entities. States are permitted to prioritize when choosing how to spend Title X monies as long as the entities chosen are Title X eligible.
I apologize for any inconvenience.
Mary Kay Culp Executive Director Kansans for Life
Thus Original has been updated as such:
Statement by Mary Kay Culp:
Any hopes that Governor Parkinson was better than Sebelius on life issues just flew out the window with this veto in which he gives Planned Parenthood priority over public health clinics without him even having the guts to mention the nation’s single largest abortion provider, by name.
While the proviso he vetoed didn’t mention Planned Parenthood nor “ban” anything, it is true that the two tier prioritization giving funds first to public entities, and second to private hospitals or Federally Qualified Health Centers (there are a total of 68 such public and private entities in Kansas), means no such funds would have been given to Planned Parenthood, and several similar organizations that do not meet those standards.
When a private organization like Planned Parenthood gets tax dollars it frees up their private funds to pay lobbyists to troll for more tax funds, and to lobby against state abortion regulations. And even if the money goes to their clinics that don’t do abortions, it frees up the private money they have available for their clinics that do. In addition, even those clinics that don’t do abortions, refer for them.
By the Governor vetoing this bill and leaving Planned Parenthood as a premier Title X recipient in Kansas, he is saying he doesn’t care that they perform abortions, doesn’t care that they lobby to keep all abortions, even partial-birth abortions, legal, and doesn’t care that they are in trouble across the country for breaking state laws, including our own. But his veto does likely show that like Sebelius, Governor Parkinson appreciates that unlike public health clinics, Planned Parenthood has a political arm that works to influence elections.
There is no reason to give Planned Parenthood tax funds when the same services can be provided just as easily, and much less politically, by the 68 other eligible public and private health care entities in Kansas.
Finally, from a practical point of view, it is simply not good policy to give tax dollars to an organization to prevent pregnancy when that organization stands to make money (from abortions) when they fail to do their job.
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