An inarticulate letter from Planned Parenthood

On January 30th, you published a letter from Maggie Leigh Groff of Bucks County Planned Parenthood. Though Ms. Groff expressed strong concern about several pieces of proposed legislation, her letter did not bother to properly identify those initiatives. Interested readers are left guessing as to what she is referring.

When Ms. Groff notes that "extreme conservatives are introducing a federal bill to strip family planning funding from Planned Parenthood health centers," she is very likely referring to HR 217, Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act. Upon introducing HR 217, Rep. Mike Pence explained that "It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion. It is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote abortion at home or abroad. Last year, Planned Parenthood received more than $363 million in revenue from government grants and contracts. During that same time, they performed an unprecedented 324,008 abortions. The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X." Rep. Pence is articulating a position on which reasonable people - who lack a vested, financial interest in promoting abortion - can certainly agree!

Ms. Groff goes on to complain that "Another bill would take health insurance benefits away from women by severely restricting their ability to purchase private health insurance that covers abortion." In this case, Ms. Groff seems to be referring to H.R. 3, No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. Isn't it only an absolute extremist who would want abortion to not only be legal but to be financed by those who are opposed to it? As per Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston/Houston, "H.R. 3 will write into permanent law a policy on which there has been strong popular and congressional agreement for over 35 years: The federal government should not use taxpayers’ money to support and promote elective abortion."

Ms. Groff is also upset that "A similar bill has already been introduced in Pennsylvania." Here, she seems to be referring to Pennsylvania Senate Bill 3. Kudos to Senator Stewart Greenleaf for supporting Senate Bill 3 in the Banking and Insurance Committee. As per Michael Geer of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, “The bill would respect the conscience and respect for life of millions of Pennsylvanians, and ensure that their tax dollars do not subsidize abortion coverage through the back door of the new state insurance exchanges.”

In my opinion, true extremism is evidenced by those who make claims without offering anything - save some ad hominem inuendo - to back up those claims.