For years more than $700 million tax dollars gets funneled to Planned Parenthood to kill a lot of the next generation of Americans, and for years pro-life groups have been begging Congress to turn off the spigot. Brent Leatherwood of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission says now is our best chance. 
“It's the appropriate time because Republicans now control the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House, but also because, functionally, we're in the reconciliation process,” Leatherwood said.
Not to mention Congress is in a cutting mood, given the Trump administration’s efforts to cut Executive Branch spending.
Planned Parenthood’s 2023 annual report shows that it performed 392,715 abortions between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022, a 5% increase from the previous year.
The Planned Parenthood report reflects abortion numbers in the months before and after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The document says that locations in states “where abortion is protected” saw a 700% increase in demand. The report also said that Planned Parenthood helped to refer and coordinate travel for over 33,000 abortions, Catholic News Agency reported.
While showing a 10-year high in abortions, overall services offered by Planned Parenthood, such as cancer screenings, prenatal services, contraceptive services, and STD prevention, continued a downward trend, according to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute.
Leatherwood says it's unacceptable for the US to fund abortions.
“It is egregious that taxpayer funds continue to flow to an organization that profits off of death.”
Making budgeting easier
Defunding Planned Parenthood would streamline the budget process going forward, Leatherwood said.
“One of the things that we continually do each year, we always make sure that the Hyde Amendment, for example, is put into those spending bills. If we take the step now to defund Planned Parenthood, that will make sure that we don't have to have that conversation again.
Leatherwood’s commission is calling on Christians to engage and help defund Planned Parenthood by signing a letter posted to ERLC.com.
“We are asking Southern Baptists and Christians to add their name to our letter, and we are the direct that to the relevant committees of Congress.”
