The Arizona senate passed (18-8) the Whole Women’s Health Priority Act last week, which would defund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood of state family planning money. This bill has passed through the House and Senate, and is now headed for the desk of Governor Jan Brewer to be signed into law.
If Governor Brewer passes the bill, Arizona would join nine other states that voted to strip Planned Parenthood of tax-payer funding in 2011. These nine states were responsible for pulling over $61 million from the abortion giant PP over the course of a single year. Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report shows that they receive over $487 million in federal funding every year. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion chain in the United States and commits over 300,000 abortions each year, so with each defunding, the lives of innocent unborn children in each of those states could be saved.
The efforts to defund Planned Parenthood are going strong in other states, as well. Last week, a provision to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood was abruptly stopped by lawmakers in Ohio, but efforts are underway for an amendment to defund Planned Parenthood in Ohio in the near future. Other states are working towards a full defunding of Planned Parenthood, and we must continue to encourage them to follow the lead of Arizona and the eight other states who have claimed pro-life victories over the past year.
Source: Email from LifeAction.org on May 3, 2012.