In his State of the State address, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said he would “finish the job” of eliminating taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood by blocking its Medicaid funding in Kansas.
“In 2011, I signed legislation stopping most taxpayer funding from going to Planned Parenthood,” Brownback said. “The time has come to finish the job.”
“Planned Parenthood’s trafficking of baby body parts is antithetical to our belief in human dignity,” he continued. “Today, I am directing Secretary Susan Mosier to ensure that not a single dollar of taxpayer money goes to Planned Parenthood through our Medicaid program. I welcome legislation that would enshrine this directive in state law.”
Brownback’s further action to eliminate Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding in his state comes following a series of undercover videos that exposed the abortion business’ apparent practices of selling the body parts of aborted babies on the open market and altering the position of babies during abortions in order to harvest intact organs.
“Kansas was founded on the principal that every life has dignity, that every life has beauty, that every life has value,” the Republican governor stressed. “Every year since I became Governor we have enacted pro-life legislation. We have come a long way, but there is still work to be done.”
Elise Higgins of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri responded to Brownback’s remarks, by claiming women go to Planned Parenthood for other reasons. “Life-saving preventive health care,” she said, according to KMUW. “They’re getting pap tests, cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, birth control and STD testing and treatment.”
According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Kansas is now the eighth state acting to eliminate taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood by terminating the abortion business’ Medicaid contracts.
ADF continues:
Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report shows the vast wealth it has taken from taxpayers. The nation’s largest abortion business has made more than $800 million in profit over the last 10 years, taking more than $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies. In fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 alone, Planned Parenthood, a so called non-profit company, had $58.8 million in “excess revenue,” more than Abercrombie & Fitch, LinkedIn, Groupon, Barnes & Noble, Charter Communications, and even Amazon. No business that profited more than Amazon last year needs a penny of support from the government. Planned Parenthood also has more net assets than Cracker Barrel restaurants, Panera Bread, and Sprouts grocery stores.
However, in its latest annual report, Planned Parenthood states it had a 66 percent reduction in cancer screenings and prevention services over the last decade, as well as a 61 percent reduction in breast exams. Overall, the organization reports nearly a 15 percent decline in the number of customers.
“How does a business make more money with fewer customers?” asks ADF. “It focuses on services that make higher profits. Planned Parenthood commits nearly 330,000 abortions every year, nearly 2.5 times the number in 1995. It also issued more than 900,000 “Emergency Contraception Kits,” another term for abortion inducing drugs.”
ADF senior counsel Casey Mattox said regarding Brownback’s announcement, “Gov. Brownback’s directive will terminate funding for Planned Parenthood, freeing up money for more widely available and more comprehensive low-cost healthcare options for women and families in Kansas.”
“Taxpayer dollars should not go to organizations with a long track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, that have been caught in authenticated undercover videos trafficking aborted babies’ body parts, and that have repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls,” he continued. “The governor is right to end the state’s relationship with an organization undeserving of its money and unworthy of its trust.”
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