Despite the promises of President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and GOP leaders such as House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) that they want to defund Planned Parenthood, the $1.3-trillion omnibus spending bill pushed through on Wednesday night by the Republican-controlled House does not defund the abortion provider.
Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.) reportedly is planning to introduce an amendment to the bill that would defund Planned Parenthood, reported The Hill. However, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill this amendment and several others have "zero percent" chance of passing out of the House Rules Committee.
The latest annual report of Planned Parenthood, for 2016-17, shows that it performed 321,384 abortions in its fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2016.
The abortion provider also received $543.7 million in government money for the funding year that ended June 30, 2017. The first five months of that year was during the Trump administration.
Planned Parenthood receives in excess of $500 million from the federal government each year. In 2015-16, it received $554.6 million; in 2014-15, it received $553.7 million; in 2013-14, $528.4 million; and in 2012-13, $540.6 million.
During those same years, Planned Parenthood performed the following number of abortions:
2015-16: 328,348
2014-15: 323,999
2013-14: 327, 653
2012-13: 327,166
In their September 2016 letter to pro-life leaders, then-candidates Donald Trump and Mike Pence said they are committed to "Defunding Planned Parenthood as long as they continue to perform abortions, and reallocating their funding to community health centers that provide comprehensive health care for women."
The Republican-dominant House and Senate could have fought to defund Planned Parenthood in any one of the many Continuing Resolutions they have passed over the years to keep the government funded. They have not done so.
Now they have released another gargantuan, 2,232-page omnibus spending bill that, once again, does not defund Planned Parenthood.
If one were cynical, one might conclude that the establishment GOP -- not the conservatives -- has absolutely no intention of ever defunding Planned Parenthood.
