A collection of nearly 40 pro-life groups has joined together to ask the Trump administration to consider cutting Planned Parenthood off from all government funding, a process called debarment.
They want Trump to cut Planned Parenthood off from federal taxpayer money by completing a debarment investigation and stripping the nation’s largest abortion company of its status as a qualified federal vendor.
Letters led by Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins were sent to the leaders of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of the Treasury. The request was announced as Republicans gathered in Dallas for a midterm convention...
“Unlike defunding, which can be reversed or limited in scope, debarment bans Planned Parenthood from doing business with any federal agency or contractor, usually for up to three years,” the letter said. “Not only would it keep them out of Medicaid, but it would address all funds, including Title X grants and indirect funding through third-party contractors.”
Defunding PP would require action from Congress, but debarment is a purely administrative action. That means the executive branch could reach a decision on its own and would effectively cut PP off from all government funds for up to three years. Students for Life Action Vice President of Media and Policy Kristi Hamrick spoke to Fox News about debarment.
Hamrick said it would include Title X funds, Medicaid and sex education programs.
"It would make them persona non grata for every federal agency," she added...
"This is about whether or not Planned Parenthood is a qualified vendor and whether or not we need to stay in business with them," Hamrick said. "And we would argue that it's time for them to be fired for the failure to offer the very thing they claim to sell."...
"The allegations of fraud... the racist work environment, the shoddy location of business, not following health and safety standards, all of the above," Hamrick said. "So what we are saying is Planned Parenthood goes to court again and again and says, 'You can't cut our funds because we are a qualified vendor,' and qualified is the word. We are saying they are a nonqualified vendor."
The Big Beautiful Bill contained a provision which effectively defunded Planned Parenthood for one year. That defunding led to the closure of 30 clinics (though some estimates say as many as 57). However, that defunding only lasted for one year. So the money spigot was turned back on this summer.
“Last summer, the pro-life movement celebrated a historic milestone: the first federal defunding of Planned Parenthood and other large abortion providers,” said Evan Lenow, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “We celebrate the impact this one-year provision had on the lives that were saved and the abortion clinics that permanently closed their doors, but we grieve that its expiration means that Planned Parenthood can now, once again, receive federal reimbursements under Medicaid.”
In numerous meetings he took part in last week in Washington, D.C., Lenow said, he urged lawmakers to take actions that strip “federal funding entirely” from Planned Parenthood and other large abortion providers.
All of this is being released today, on the day the GOP is opening its midterm convention. We'll have to wait and see if this gets any attention at the convention.
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