After lots of promises and talk about defunding the notorious abortion provider Planned Parenthood, even after the shocking videos released exposing the harvesting and selling of aborted baby body parts, the GOP still has not defunded the organization. While this might spark outrage, and rightly so, unfortunately it should not come as a surprise. While the GOP has majority control of both the House and the Senate, there is no serious congressional action being taken against Planned Parenthood, which is still receiving millions of taxpayers’ dollars on the federal level.
Consider the huge $1.3 trillion omnibus bill passed by Congress in March. As LifeSiteNews.com reported, this bill, which was signed into law by President Trump, “continues the more than $500 million in taxpayer dollars Planned Parenthood receives each year.” The pro-life website quoted a tweet Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had sent about the huge spending bill: “It’s a good thing we have Republican control of Congress or the Democrats might bust the budget caps, fund planned parenthood [sic] and Obamacare, and sneak gun control without due process into an Omni…wait, what?”
Why doesn’t Congress simply defund Planned Parenthood? It certainly has the power to do so. However, power is not in question here. The reason this is not happening is that Congress does not have the moral fiber to do so — and is not being compelled to do so by sufficient numbers of informed and outraged constituents. But this, though terrible, is not new. For example, consider the state of the government at the time of the George W. Bush administration. In fact, during more than half that era the situation was quite similar to the current one: a Republican president and Republican control of both houses of Congress. Major changes could, and should, have been made then too. And those changes can, and should, go beyond defunding Planned Parenthood.
Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to limit the appellate jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Congress exercise this power to prohibit the high court from hearing abortion cases. Congress can also determine the jurisdictions of the lower federal courts, which (unlike the Supreme Court) were established by Congress to begin with. With the federal judiciary reined in through the application of these congressional powers, the states would then be able to outlaw abortion without the federal judiciary blocking the state actions.
But such moves did not happen during the presidency of George W. Bush, nor are they happening now.
A bone is thrown, here and there; promises are made. But, they were made before, and will continue to be made. The action that is vaguely hinted at is always just out of reach, as if now is not quite the time. But now is the time, and if the inaction continues, it will be much harder to take any serious action in the coming few years.
The bright side? Well, the pro-life movement is loud and growing. Government is accountable, believe it or not, and when pressure is put in the right places, people are forced to take action, or their precious careers could crumble. So the movement should continue, and push as hard as ever. Federal and state politicians who have promised to defund Planned Parenthood, or outlaw abortion altogether, should be held to their word. So while yes, Congress could defund Planned Parenthood and effectively end Roe v. Wade, nothing will happen unless politicians feel so much pressure from the movement that they must choose between scorn and uncomfortable (for them) action. Let us hope that the latter is chosen. The weight of the issue — in this case, guilt — will continue to lie on the shoulders of those who can actually pass legislation, or repeal it. So while the lack of action is sadly no real surprise, the pro-life movement should continue exactly what it is doing. Even individuals such as David Daleiden can make a huge difference. Everyone who is praying for abortion to end should redouble their effforts, and perhaps legal action may finally be taken against Planned Parenthood, and abortion itself.
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