WASHINGTON –U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and 11 other senators reintroduced the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act to help end taxpayer support for the abortion industry.
“From conception to natural death, life is a gift that should be treated with dignity,” said Rounds. “It is completely inappropriate and immoral for federal taxpayer dollars to be used to fund abortions. The majority of Americans oppose using their taxpayer dollars to support this practice. Our legislation will help protect life by stopping the flow of taxpayer money to institutions that perform abortions.”
“For too long, the abortion industry has profited at the expense of the American taxpayer–despite sixty percent of Americans opposing the use of their hard-earned money to fund abortions,” said Blackburn. “The pro-life community should never be forced to foot the bill for an immoral practice that they vehemently oppose. The Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act will safeguard the sanctity of life by withholding federal funding from abortion providers and investors.”
“For 48 years the abortion lobby has received billions of taxpayer dollars under the guise of ‘overhead,’” said Martin Fox, President of the National Pro-Life Alliance. “The Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act is the best solution to this problem as it requires that any entity that receives taxpayer funds for any reason certify that they do not perform abortions. It’s simple: Perform abortions? No taxpayer funds. Period.”
The Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act would require federally funded entities to certify that they will not perform an abortion and will not provide funds to any other entity that performs an abortion. Exceptions are made for abortions where: (1) the pregnancy is a the result of rape or incest, or (2) a physician certifies that the woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury, or illness that would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy. Hospitals are exempted unless they provide funds to non-hospital entities that perform abortions.
(Rounds press release)