FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 26, 2012
Contact: Mallory Quigley, 202-223-8073
SBA List Praises Governor Perry, Texas State Legislature, Texas Right to Life
Washington, D.C. – This morning the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) praised the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ refusal to grant an additional hearing to Planned Parenthood regarding Texas’ legislation to end taxpayer funding of abortion providers including Planned Parenthood. The decision effectively ends the legal controversy surrounding the law and affirms Texas’ right to stop taxpayer dollars from flowing to abortion providers.
“States like Texas have the right to stop taxpayer funding of abortion providers. The Fifth Circuit court’s decision validates this and we applaud Texas for getting taxpayers out of the abortion business,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Abortion-centered organizations like Planned Parenthood neither need nor deserve taxpayer dollars.
“Governor Perry, the pro-life Texas state legislature, as well as our friends at Texas Right to Life deserve much praise. Even after the Obama Administration carried out its threat and cut funding for Texas’ Women’s Health Program because the state defunded abortion providers, Texas refused to yield. Governor Perry vowed to keep the Women’s Health Program, which serves vulnerable women, fully funded using state dollars. Texas has shown the rest of America what it means to be both pro-woman and pro-life.”
Last year the Texas state legislature defunded abortion providers including Planned Parenthood of state-controlled family planning funding. In December 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission rejecting Texas’ law by turning down the state’s request to run their own family planning program. In March 2012, HHS officially stopped $30 million in federal funding for Texas’ Women’s Health Program because they excluded Planned Parenthood. Governor Perry pledged to fully fund the program using state dollars.
In August 2012, the Fifth Circuit court overturned the April 2012 ruling of a Texas judge who granted a preliminary injunction to Planned Parenthood affiliates while they sued the state of Texas over the law. Previously, Texas Governor Rick Perry pointed out that Planned Parenthood clinics represent less than two percent of the more than 2,500 enrolled providers.
The Susan B. Anthony List, and its affiliated Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates that will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List will emphasize the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.
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