Alysse ElHage | August 6, 2015 | SHARE: 
With Tuesday’s release of a fifth undercover video exposing Planned Parenthood’s harvesting and sale of aborted babies and body parts, the call to defund the nation’s leading abortion provider continues to escalate in our nation’s Capital and in North Carolina. The latest video released by the Center for Medical Progress shows a director of one of Planned Parenthood’s largest clinics discussing how its doctors modify abortion procedures to better procure intact fetuses to sell for research, and even comparing aborted baby parts to budget “line items.” In the video, Melissa Farrell, Director of Research for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, tells the undercover pro-life investigators, “If we alter our process and we are able to obtain intact fetal cadavers, then we can make it part of the budget… I mean it’s all just a matter of line items.”
“Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the harvesting and sale of aborted babies and body parts is horrific and unconscionable, but, unfortunately, it is not surprising,” said John L. Rustin, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “These videos are exposing what we have know for years, that Planned Parenthood butchers thousands of babies across our nation every day for profit and has no regard for the sanctity of human life or basic human decency. Our elected officials have no choice but to cut-off all taxpayer funding to this organization and its barbaric practices.”
On Monday night, August 3, North Carolina’s U.S. Senators Richard Burr (R) and Thom Tillis (R) joined 51 other members of the U.S. Senate in voting in favor of legislation to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately, a procedural motion to bring Senate Bill 1881 before the full Senate for a vote failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Democrat filibuster. Despite the bill’s failure to progress in the Senate, some pro-life lawmakers promised to make the defunding of Planned Parenthood an issue in the upcoming debate over the federal budget. According to The Hill, the debate over federal funding for Planned Parenthood will continue after lawmakers return from their August recess.
Pro-life legislators in North Carolina are in the process of reviewing the State budget to determine if any State taxpayer dollars are currently provided to Planned Parenthood. On Wednesday, North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore (R–Cleveland) released the following statement: “I admire the effort lead by Senate Majority Leader McConnell and supported by N.C. Senators Burr and Tillis to advance a bill that once and for all defunds Planned Parenthood, but am very disappointed it did not receive the votes to advance. I do not support taxpayer dollars going to organizations who perform offensive and negligent acts on the unborn.” Moore continued, “As we continue the development of our state budget, I will work to include language in the final document that states in no uncertain terms, no state funds will go to organizations that are involved in the reprehensible practice of profiting from the sale of a baby’s remains.”
TAKE ACTION! Please contact your representatives in the North Carolina House and Senate, and urge them to eliminate any taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood in North Carolina!
To identify and contact your State Senator:
To identify and contact your State House Member:
Thank you!
