How the Abortion Industry Will Take a Hit Under GOP Health Care Bill

As most people know by now, the House of Representatives passed a health care bill last week, by a vote of 217-213, that repealed former President Obama’s health care law. The bill — if passed into law — will redirect hundreds of millions of federal dollars away from the abortion industry.

Pro-lifers and conservatives praised the May 4 House passage of the American Health Care Act of 2017.

“As a nation, we are without excuse in paying for abortion on demand in Obamacare.”

“First, the legislation stops the Obamacare abortion expansion by preventing taxpayer funding of health care plans that cover abortion on demand,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement. “Second, the bill redirects taxpayer dollars away from Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business, to health care centers that provide comprehensive primary and preventative care to women and girls.”

Community health centers that do not provide abortion would get a $422 million federal funding boost, according to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

[lz_ndn video=32359578]

Over $550 million, or 43 percent, of Planned Parenthood’s budget comes from government grants and reimbursements, according to the organization’s 2013-2014 annual report.

Related: GOP Lawmakers Urge Trump on Conscience Protections

“As a nation, we are without excuse in paying for abortion on demand in Obamacare and subsidizing Planned Parenthood’s gruesome trafficking of baby body parts and its inhumane treatment of mothers and their unborn children,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said in a statement.

Among many other provisions, the bill would stop more than $390 million of federal funding to Planned Parenthood for one year. Community health centers would instead benefit from those funds.

“This bill … redirects funding … to community health centers that offer comprehensive women’s care, and already outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics by 20 to 1,” Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, said in a statement. “This decision re-baselines our understanding that medical services should reflect the pro-life consensus in America that abortion is not healthcare and that taxpayer funding should not pay for abortion.”

Conservatives in Congress have tried previously to cut taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood. Previous attempts to repeal Obamacare had been unsuccessful.

Back in September 2015, the director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) wrote House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy a letter, which said of federal funding to Planned Parenthood, in part: “CBO estimates that Planned Parenthood receives approximately $450 million annually in federal funds. Of that amount, roughly $390 million is provided through the Medicaid program and less than $1 million is provided through the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Medicare program combined. The remaining amount, approximately $60 million, is provided through the National Family Planning Program, which operates under Title X of the Public Health Service Act (commonly referred to as Title X). Funding for that latter program is subject to appropriation.”

Related: Trump’s Pro-Life Victories in His First 100 Days

Planned Parenthood can still receive some government funding even if this bill gets signed into law.

“The bill will prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving funding through ‘mandatory’ federal funding streams — primarily Medicaid — for exactly one calendar year after the president signs it,” as CNS News reported. “But it does not prevent Planned Parenthood from getting ‘discretionary’ funding through the Title X family planning program.”

“And it will do what is right by stopping taxpayer funding for abortion providers and by refocusing Medicaid on those who most need it,” Kevin McCarthy said in a floor speech on May 4.

The Senate must pass the bill before it heads to the desk of President Donald Trump.

“This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare,” Trump said Thursday at the White House. “Make no mistake about it.”