The Absent Outrage
By Greg L | 15 March 2008 | Virginia Politics | 72 Comments
This week budget conferees stripped out provisions passed by both the Senate and the House of Delegates that would ensure that taxpayer dollars are not funneled to Planned Parenthood. While all funding for abstinence-based sex ed programs has been hacked out of the budget, Virginia taxpayers are still on the hook for funding a non-profit organization that teaches people that murdering unborn babies is a legitimate moral choice, and in some cases actually carries out the abortions that they counsel their “clients” as being among the menu of choices available when confronted with the prospect of being the recipient of one of God’s greatest gifts to us. Although there has been some discussion about this, the electorate has largely passed by this decision by the House and Senate leadership and there have been surprisingly few calls for seeking retribution among those responsible for this decision.
One element of the discussion that has been entirely missing here is that the Constitution of Virginia specifically states that public funds may not be appropriated to non-state entities. Charity is a voluntary act, and collecting tax revenues from the public under the threat that the state will go after you if you don’t pay, and then give this money to a charity is destructive to the concept of charitable giving. That provision of the Constitution is among the most violated of the laws that our Legislators casually dismiss as they continue to demonstrate that the law in Virginia is only the law when it is convenient for our Government. Among the most egregious of the willful violators here is our very own Chuck Colgan, who regularly tops the list of legislators to earmark public money for non-state entities and baldly states that this is the kind of “bringing home the bacon” that his constituents seem to want.
Despite both Houses of the legislature saying that Planned Parenthood should not receive your tax dollars, and a Constitutional restriction against providing non-state entities with public money, we’re again faced with the disturbing prospect that your tax dollars are going to be used to tell people to murder their children by a non-state entity. There should be more outrage about this. Not only is there a Constitutional question larger than the abortion debate at play here, but this particular example is about as disturbing as it can get.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
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I still submit that if you want that choice, you should pay for it yourself (or the baby daddy, et al.).
What do you expect when liberals, for the most part, think a fetus is nothing more than a glob of tooth decay with a heartbeat.
Planned Parenthood deals with all issues of reproductive health, not just abortion. The budget amendment would have prohibited Planned Parenthood from receiving state funding to provide prevention health care, including low-cost gynecological care, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment and birth control.
Mr. Molleur, I would venture to say you don’t know who or what a liberal is and furthermore do not know how they or anyone else pro-choice feels about abortion. The tooth decay analogy is living proof of that.
Many of the very staunchest anti-illegal immigration people here are very pro-choice. When are you all going to stop having labels for everyone who doesn’t think like you think they should think?
I certainly know who a liberal is - I was once one!
Cool it Greg! Planned Parenthood! Look at the word PLANNED! If Planned Parenthood’s goal were achieved, there would be no need for abortions. This group is trying to teach women HOW NOT TO GET PREGNANT. As for abstinance, we all know that’s not an option for most. I hope you saw 20/20 last night. Sexual activity starts at around age 13-14 today. Most of us don’t want it to be so, but it IS so. Sex education is important.
Please read Dolph’s comment. She has described the role of Planned Parenthood very well, indeed.
As for tax money; How much is spent on unwanted babies? How many of you anti-Planned Parenthood people have adopted unwanted babies?
When are we going to picket Colgan’s home? Dolph, you’re free to stay home, since you are “pro-abortion”.
Bite me opditch. I am free to do whatever I want. I would never be so low class as to picket someone’s home, not even Bob Marshall’s.
You obviously don’t understand the issues here. Pro-choice is NOT pro-abortion. That song is getting real old. I don’t know anyone who is pro-abortion.
Wow, I can’t believe the day has come that I would actually have something to thank Dick Saslaw for.
************************************************
Hot off the press from Planned Parenthood.
Good news! The final version of the Biennial Budget will be voted on today and it does not include these two harmful amendments:
Planned Parenthood funding restriction: Prohibits Planned Parenthood from receiving state funding to provide prevention health care, including low-cost gynecological care, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment and birth control. Introduced by Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37).
Medicaid funding restriction: Further restricts Medicaid funding for abortions to circumstances when the woman’s life is at risk, or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. It prohibits funding for women whose health is at risk or have pregnancies with serious problems. Introduced by Del. Bob Marshall (R-13).
With your help, we defeated these extremist attacks on family planning services and women’s health. Thank you for sending messages and stories to the members of the Budget Conference Commitee, as well as letters to the editor to newspapers across the commonwealth. You can read some of the media coverage and letters on our website at http://www.ppav.org/ppinthenews.html.
Now we need to thank our friends on the Budget Conference Committee who fought hard for women’s health. Here are actions you can take:
Thank these legislators
Senator Dick Saslaw district35@sov.state.va.us or (804) 698-7535
Senator Edd Houck district17@sov.state.va.us or (804) 698-7517
Senator Janet Howell district32@sov.state.va.us or (804) 698-7532
Delegate Johnny Joannou (804) 698-1079
Send a letter to editor
Write a letter thanking these legislators, telling people what Planned Parenthood’s services are about and shaming the legislators that made these attacks on family planning services and women’s health.
opditch - Snide and totally unnecessary remark! Nobody is PRO-ABORTION. Sensible people are PRO-CHOICE.
In Utopia there would be no unwanted pregnancies. All babies would be welcomed into a nice home with two parents who earn enough money to buy diapers, pay for school supplies, help them with homework or smart enough to homeschool them or rich enough to send them to private schools, give them music lessons, have the time to watch the soccer, football, basketball, baseball games, piano and ballet recitals, etc. etc. However, life sometimes throws a curve ball at you and, pouff, there goes the ideal life.
There have been a few zealots among the anti-abortionists who felt it was OK to kill people working in Planned Parenthood clinics. Guess life wasn’t important in those cases
So what are you going to do at Colgan’s home?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/11/teen.std.ap/index.html
If abortion was mandatory for liberals, the problem would go away in a generation or two.
CONOVA,
Those very same words could be said for the right-wingers.
CONVA and Lafayette - Is it possible to determine IN UTERI whether the fetus is liberal or right-wing? New test? Just wondered.
Insults unnecessary, don’t you think?
This reversal of the will of the majority of Virginians not to support PP was obviously reached in the heat of budget conferee compromise. But the good PP does is far outweighed by the horrors against innocent life it encourages. Such a compromise is obscene.
Krutis,
Thanks, for your sensibility this morning. I’ve been sick for 10 days now. Obviously, I am feeling better.
Insults unnecessary, yes ma’am. However, they do run rampid on this board. I am usually respectful of all, even with those I disagree. That one just hit a nerve.
It doesn’t need to be mandatory. Liberals are slowly contracepting and aborting themselves out of existence by their own free choices.
Right on Lafayette! The ignorance on the issue and extremism of the anti-choice folks is too rampant on this blog. Glad to know you’re not part of that crowd.
Greg, your attack on Colgan is ludicrous anyway. Colgan supplied the lone Democratic vote in the Senate to strip Planned Parenthood of funding, resulting in a tie that Bill Bolling broke so that the measure passed in the Senate. Now you attack Colgan?
Where is your outrage, by the way, at the House Republican leadership for blocking the seven anti-illegal immigration bills Democrat Paul Nichols introduced in the House? Most of them were never even heard in committee because the Republican leadership pocketed them! You’ve done squat to bring to light how the Republican leadership blocked every attempt he made to address the issue. If Nichols was a Republican (and he pretty much is even though he has a D after his name) and the Democratic leadership had done something like this you would scream bloody murder. Once again it looks like the issue has taken a back seat to your partisanship.
And so why is everyone going to picket Colgan’s house? Explain that one to me again.
Liberals believe homosexual sex in the human sewer system warrants matrimonial sanction on par with conception of child within the realm of the traditional man/woman nuclear family unit.
Pro-choice is simply a choice between two things - anti-abortion and pro-abortion. Pro-choicers are pro-abortion.
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
NO ONE IS PRO-ABORTION!!
I am an INDPENDENT!! It’s not a political party thing at all. It’s called having a safe/legal means to have an abortion for those who feel the NEED to do so. We all must live with our own PERSONAL choices.
Helli,
This place is famous for attacking Chuck. I’m glad the picketting won’t be happening here in WestGate.
I can’t imagine even thinking of picketting one’s private residence, and certainly not an elected official.
What’s wrong with these people?
RM,
What on earth are you talking about? You used to be liberal? Does that mean you used to have a mental disorder? If I follow your logic, that is what you have said. Most people prefer to keep person issues, personal.
Time to stop insulting everyone who does not agree with you. I am just laughing now.
Lafayette,
I have seen picketing of a personal residence done only once. I thought it was totally low class. I don’t care what the person has done. I am glad Senator Colgan no longer lives in our community also. If I thought that would happen I would go buy some skunk scent for the occassion.
Helli said: “…the House Republican leadership for blocking the seven anti-illegal immigration bills Democrat Paul Nichols introduced in the House? Most of them were never even heard in committee because the Republican leadership pocketed them!”
I couldn’t agree with you more, Helli….I too would like to know what happened to the Nichols bills. We elected Paul Nichols, as the true Republican from the 51st District, and he did just what we wanted him to do in the HOD. I think Paul Nichols is deserving of far more credit than he has received when it comes to resolving the illegal alien issue.
What choice did the child get?
YAWN!!!
Pro choicers are often not pro abortion. They are just smart enough to realize that the government has no place in legislating such a thing. Whoever told you it was your business was lying.
Aside from Spain ( the country that gave us the Spanish Inquisition ) every first world country has laws firmly in place that warrant the safety and freedom for women to choose (the word choose is paramount) taking therefore into account the fact that not all people follow the same religion.
Only third world countries and Muslim countries have laws against abortion.
And I thought we were becoming more civilized?
Lafayette and Dolph, I admire your willingness to speak about this subject.
One area where I part from most conservatives. I’m for whatever lightens the traffic on I-66. The problem is too many who shouldn’t procreate do so at such an astounding rate.
just news,
It’s my pleasure, thank you!
BattleCat,
You got that right!
Anonymous said on 15 Mar 2008 at 2:12 pm:
What choice did the child get?
Did you ask to be brought into this world? I didn’t. I am sure glad I’m here though.
Just news,
It is critical that the government stay out of people’s bedrooms. I am not willing to give politicians the power to make reproductive decisions for me. The question is, and will remain, WHO DECIDES?
This provision was NOT taking away the “women’s right to choose,” so stop acting like a momma bear defending her cubs. Oh, sorry that natural instinct is not accurate here.
What did happen is the “voters right to choose” how their tax dollars were spent and what risky life styles they wanted to support was denied. The views of the majority of this state represented by our elected in the GA were usurped by the views of a few.
Last summer, Planned Parenthood revealed that it had received $305.3 million in taxpayer funding in 2006, 12 percent more than in the previous year. Planned Parenthood admitted that 34 percent of its 2006 income came from taxpayer funding. The organization also reported a $55.8 million profit for the year.
So I agree with the right to choose. It should be the voters right as well.
Dolph,
Sorry, you gave up the power to decide when you started accepting my tax dollars.
Dolph,
If you believe so strongly in Planned Parenthood then you are certainly welcome to contribute to them. But don’t me to.
Sorry, don’t “ask” me to.
Anonymous,
I am assuming you are the same on all posts. No referendum has been held on how to spend tax dollars. No politician is that stupid. As a tax payer, you don’t get a line item veto. If you don’t like how your senator or delegate voted, net go-round, vote for someone else.
As for the mother bear syndrome, don’t even think you know the correct answer to the test on this one. I think you would be very surprised. You know what they say about assume….and what it makes out of people.
Round and round we go. Nothing settled; will never be; belittling; accusation of mental disorder; MY tax dollars.
Are you withdrawing your tax money for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where lots and lots of humans are being killed be they left or right or independent? Joan Baez withheld taxes in the 60s protesting THAT war; got in deep doodoo.
For right-wingers, who say they want government off their backs, it’s rather strange they don’t mind having them involved in one of the most intimate and personal decisions anyone can make.
I have accepted your tax dollars…well…isn’t that ever so interesting. Care to elaborate? Don’t give me sound bites delivered as facts.
Krutis,
Absolutely. I have never understood how selective some conservatives are about when to have government interference and when not to. I guess it is if the government does their bidding, then it is ok. Govt, go at it.
I remember when Joan Baez got into her tax trouble. She had such a great voice! I imagine she would have liked a line item veto, for sure.
When do Conservatives want government interference? Beginning with the sex act that starts our journey through life and again at our death bed. In the interim, you’re on your own… don’t expect any help.
Since the choice that PP supports usually ends in death, and the anti-abortion pregnancies usually end in life, I think the correct terms would be pro-life vs. pro-death.
Colgan knows how to play his cards. He was safe voting against the funding, only to appoint liberal Saslaw to the finance committee, no?
Keep the government out of it - no tax $ for Planned Barrenhood!
Helli, the leadership held many illegal-alien bills this year. Including one of Jackson Miller’s bills.
The Miller bill that was held was the same one he filed last year that would stop private organizations from using taxmoney grants that they use to give illegals all sorts of benefits. At our expense. The bill passed out of the house easily last year.
as long as this continues, I will not pay va income taxes. Or any other tax not levied at the point-of-sale
Oh my god!!! If you want to prevent pregnancy just get the depo provera shot!!!!! Easy, only have to meet once every 3 months with a nurse. Low, low co-pay. 10 dollars ea. 3 months to get a shot that is so awesome that I’ve not had a single period in 4 years, no PMS, no cramping, no spotting, no breast tenderness either…….I”M FREEEEEEEEEEEE! Some people may think TMI, but I have to say depo has been the best thing to ever to happen to me. More abortions could be avoided if depo was more available to every woman at a low cost. Pills require a woman take them. Depo only requires a visit every 3 months.
depo provera translates “to make aged.” btw it can cause weight gain, headaches, bone loss and spontaneous abortion (so early you don’t even know it). no studies yet to determine its effect on breast cancer. there are no free lunches.
Lets get real here folks -
abstinence is not an option that most young adults will adhere to.
Pro-Choice does not mean Pro-Abortion - pro-choice usually means, not for me, but if YOU need to….It is none of my business.
What I have found is that the staunchest pro-anything will break his/her own rules when it personally affects them. Ever hear the old adage Never say Never - well, if it were your wife or daughter that was raped,or you - you might consider an abortion as an option. If your life or your wifes life is on the line - what would you do (pregnency is harmful to some people)? When abortion was illegal, only the rich got abortions, because they can go to a legal jursdiction and get the abortion that they want - so if you deprive legal abortions, you are really saying that the poor cannot get them - the people who can least afford an unwanted pregnency.
The Abortion debate was legally decided decades ago - why it is the one polarizing issue that continues to divide?
We allow this one topic to become the conerstone of an election, and then the real issues become moot - and nothing gets done in our political system. As someone else said, Planned Parenthood is not just about getting abortions, it is about STD testing and pregnency prevention in a realistic way - which is against some religious beliefs.
Dolph said on 15 Mar 2008 at 2:21 pm:
YAWN!!!
YAWN at this
http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/308723.html
So what’s new, Dolp? Margaret Sanger was a eugenist who wanted to eliminate the “dark race” from the beginning. Yawn, indeed.
Anonymous 11:53 - That phone call is so blatantly a sting, one can smell it. And again I ask : HOW MANY OF YOU ANTI-PLANNED PARENTHOOD PEOPLE HAVE ADOPTED AN UNWANTED BABY???? Medical expenses, schooling, minimum 18 years of responsibility for another human being. That baby may be mentally and/or physically handicapped.
I’m just asking. You, who are so feverishly fervent against abortion for ANY reason, ought to put your money where your mouth is.
Anonymous 12:03 - FYI - EVERYONE is at risk of mental health breakdowns at any time, with or without abortions.
For Pete’s sake!
Krutis,
Excellent question. Don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer.
Krutis said on 16 Mar 2008 at 1:06 pm:
Anonymous 11:53 - That phone call is so blatantly a sting, one can smell it.
That didn’t stop them for trying to get THEIR donation at ANY COST.
Well, Krutis, we agree that they’re human beings.
I part ways with you though at the suggestion that they’re better off dead because they’re handicapped or may be born into less-than ideal circumstances like a single-parent household that can’t afford piano lessons.
Jane D’oh! is putting words in my mouth. I have NEVER said that “they” are better off dead. I’m just sure that there are cases that neither you nor I can even imagine, where an abortion is justified.
I, for one, am out of this particular thread. Every time abortion comes up, it’s the same, same, same. There’s no simple solution. We all want all babies to be wanted. In order for that to happen, there must be a way to avoid pregnancy. (don’t come back with “abstinance” please). THAT’S what Planned Parenthood is trying to do. Planned Parenthood is a great place for women to go for advise and, yes, healthcare. As for the men who are so anti, well, they will never know what it’s like to be pregnant and desperate, will they?
The question “what would you do if your daughter became pregnant from a rape, maybe the rapist has a severe mental illness” cannot be answered because 99.9999999999999% of us sitting around pecking at a keyboard have never been faced with such a dilemma and aren’t likely to be.
No one is going to change anyone else’s mind through this forum. My personal belief is this: if you are female and do not condone abortion, don’t have one. If you are male and you do not condone abortion, make sure you either keep your fly up or have a vasectomy.
I have known many a person to have duck fits over abortion and ….alas…end up with an unwanted pregnancy and consequently, an abortion. It is probably good to just not judge others and to thy own self be true. It is also a good time to mind your own business.
Spare me all the links. Not interested. I have known for many years how I feel about this topic personally. I have also known for years that I don’t think it is an issue someone else can decide for me, nor I for them.
Whoever that was who said they weren’t going to pay taxes, enjoy the jail time. We don’t get a line item veto.
Krutis,
Total agreement here. I have grown very bored with the silliness.
Krutis, who doesn’t want babies to be wanted?
The unwanted and the unloved also have a place in this world and they are of no less value than the most fortunate and “wanted” amongst us.
Dolph,
It’s unfortunate that you find debating the value of human life both boring and silly.
Had to get back. JD - the problem is the FIND that place in this world. Any idea?
correction: “the” should be “to”
Jane,
I don’t consider rhetoric, sound bites , and tired old arguments to be honest debate on the value of human life.
Debate on the value of human life would have to include topics like stem cell research, the death penalty, war, death with dignity, frozen embryos, and all sorts of other rascally little quirks of the human condition that simply cannot be reduced to agenda slogans.
Abortions should not be funded in any part by taxpayers.
I believe in a female’s right to choose - but my tax dollars should not pay for abortions. Let the female who chooses to have an abortion pay for that abortion.
Loudoun,
The female and the MALE should pay for the abortion. Certainly not our tax dollars.
There are many very effective forms of birth control available to women. However, not all are taking advantage of this. Of course those males out there always have the option of getting “snipped”, but they don’t like the idea of their “manlihood” being cut at. People need to act more responsibly and unwanted pregnancies are sure to drop.
Good to have you back, Lafayette, but stop with the Lorena Bobbit talk! Even my Doberman is cringing.
The thing is, PP primarily provides low cost and no cost birth control and health services. (gynecological exams, and STD treatment) They aren’t abortion factories. They even have low or no cost vasectomies.
Lafayette - point taken. One must not forget about the responsible MALE in this scenario.
I really think that there is not a single female teen or preteen, or adult female who wakes up one day and says “I can’t wait until my first abortion.” All parties involved in sex must be responsible to prevent the chance of a child if that is what they do not want. Married or single. I know there are those such as a-non who think that birthcontrol causes “spontaneous abortions”, that is so Catholic…and a reason I left the Catholic church. I’ve dealt with enough teenage mom (absent dad) parents to realize that babies having and raising babies may not be in the best interest of those babies. And Krustis my parents have been foster parents for years, and i am going forth in the classes. Currently my parents have retired from foster care, but my mom still works as a CASA for children in the system. Yes I will take them home! I will find therapy for them! At the same time, I will control my own procreation. Sorry if I offend the Catholics.
ateacher - I admire all people who have the heart and strength to be foster parents. Yours set a wonderful example for you and your friends. I have to admit that I probably don’t have what it takes. - Long ago, two Danish friends, who couldn’t have children of their own, adopted two girls and two boys from a Hispanic orphanage in San Jose, Calif. No, not all at the same time and they weren’t siblings The kids have all turned out very well, and the family is very close. My husband and I were fortunate enough to have children of our own when we WANTED children.
Now I’m Grandma in residence in my little neighborhood and thrive on the role.
Krustis..modern foster care requires foster parents to accept “damaged” children. By the time most children enter foster care they have been victims of years of neglect/abuse. Most are age 7 to 14 years of age. We’re not talking about infants here. We’re talking hard core kids, many with reactive attachment disorders. Most are so dangerous that social service agencies will not place these children in homes that have young children. Most children on the foster care rolls require foster parents that are certified theraputic foster care parents. These people are whom the social service agencies place the hard core kids with, the kids who will never be adopted. Every time I drive by an anti-abortion march, where the signs say “Adoption is the loving option.” I have to wonder, how many of those Catholics (and I am one) have taken a RAD child and his siblings into their home? How many have to search long and hard for thereputic resources? They judge…the rest of us adopt. What would Mary say:)
Good night “ateacher”. Good vibes going your way.
from growing up in near-inner-city neighborhood, I knew girls who used abortions from the local clinic as a method of birth control…as in multiple abortions instead of being responsible enough to either abstain, insist on her partner wearing condoms, carrying some herself, or getting pills from the clinic instead of the abortion. They were poor enough that they got very low-cost abortions (or possibly free, judging by the frequency of a couple girls). I wish there was some way that we could prevent girls from doing something like this…but then some of that needs to come from the parents instilling some actual morals and placing value on human life.