Big Abortion, Big Media, and Big Politics
The Fight to De-Fund Planned Parenthood in Ohio
Yesterday, the Ohio Senate voted to de-fund Planned Parenthood, bringing the bill one step closer to the desk of pro-life Governor John Kasich.
As the bill winds closer and closer to the Governor’s desk, the New York Times and Hillary Clinton are intoning the talking points of Planned Parenthood, trying to intimidate the Governor out of signing our bill.
Having previously signed 16 Ohio Right to Life initiatives and recently identified Planned Parenthood as a “discredited” organization, Governor Kasich has consistently advanced the cause for human life here in Ohio.
Yet as David Daleiden is indicted, and as the New York Times and Hillary Clinton come out swinging against our bill, we are reminded of the monstrous corporate power that Planned Parenthood wields.
Planned Parenthood and friends can laugh on video about hearts, livers, lungs, calvarium and eyeballs—and the most renowned newspaper and a candidate for President of the United States will still have their back.
Of course, it works both ways: Planned Parenthood endorses Clinton, Clinton endorses Planned Parenthood.
In an age of disillusionment with corporatism, I would think that my generation would be extra skeptical of Planned Parenthood’s incestuous relationship with the government and, in particular, the Democratic Party. To some extent, conservatives, liberals, and libertarians all recoil at the marriage of money and politics.
Planned Parenthood claimed $1.4 billion in net assets in 2013-2014. They promised to spend $20 million here in Ohio and other states fighting the Republican Party in 2016. As Jonah Goldberg asked, “Why is this group getting any federal funding when they’re behaving like a Super PAC?”
To be clear, I do not believe money is the problem. But I do believe that forcing taxpayers to subsidize the country’s largest abortion provider with 43 percent of its revenue is. And I believe it is the height of corruption for Planned Parenthood to receive half a billion taxpayer dollars while behaving in direct contradiction to the will of half of the population that is subsidizing it.
I’m no fan of Bernie Sanders, but I’m repeatedly told by my peers that the very reason they support Sanders over Clinton is because he “can’t be bought.” That’s certainly debatable. (By insisting on funding the organization, Bernie Sanders and Planned Parenthood are most definitely beholden to one another.)
However, if that is how my peers perceive Sanders and if they view Clinton as the “corporate candidate,” then shouldn’t they perceive Planned Parenthood through the same lens as Clinton’s corporate candidacy? Shouldn’t it reflect back on Planned Parenthood as a corporate entity with corporate interests supporting corporate candidates?
Planned Parenthood is the height of Big Abortion, and in a sane world, this would cause a serious split among Democrats. A split as transparent as the one between Sanders/Clinton supporters.
Daleiden can be indicted for trying to purchase baby parts, but Planned Parenthood can walk free for selling baby parts. As many pro-life advocates have pointed out, this truly is a modern-day David and Goliath story.
Yet in Ohio, Goliath’s power isn’t so robust. In 2014, 79 percent of Ohio Right to Life endorsed candidates won their elections against Planned Parenthood supported candidates. And now, pro-life Ohioans stand on the cusp of de-funding the entity of $1.3 million—including funding that combats Ohio’s infant mortality crisis. This funding will instead be made available to organizations that can consistently care for infants, born and unborn.
In her testimony supporting the de-funding of Planned Parenthood, our executive director, Stephanie Ranade Krider, noted, “It is the public policy of the state of Ohio to prefer childbirth over abortion. Ohio Right to Life asks that the state of Ohio honor this policy and leave the abortion business once and for all.”
As their influence wanes in Ohio, Big Abortion calls in Big Media and Big Politics to sway the Governor. Any voter who’s watching this circus should side squarely against this power bloc as we loosen the abortion industry’s grip on the government and the lives of the innocent.