{"id":235860,"date":"2020-12-08T17:39:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T23:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=235860"},"modified":"2020-12-08T17:52:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T23:52:00","slug":"taxpayer-funded-abortion-hyde-poor-abortion-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/taxpayer-funded-abortion-hyde-poor-abortion-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"SAVE HYDE: Taxpayer-funded abortion won’t help poor women. It will only help the abortion industry."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Hyde Amendment, a pro-life rider that\u00a0prevents<\/a>\u00a0federal taxpayer dollars from funding most abortions, is in the crosshairs of the abortion lobby.\u00a0Ironically, the abortion industry \u2014 which is historically saturated in racist eugenics by its own admissions \u2014 claims that because Hyde does not allow taxpayer money to fund poor women’s abortions (many of them minority women) for any and every reason, it is “racist.” The truth is the exact opposite. Hyde protects poor and minority women (and their children) from being pushed toward abortion as their best option for an unplanned pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Today, the\u00a0House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a\u00a0hearing<\/a>\u00a0entitled,\u00a0\u201cThe Impact on Women Seeking an Abortion but are Denied Because of an Inability to Pay,\u201d where pro-abortion\u00a0speakers<\/a>\u00a0outnumbered pro-lifers three to one.\u00a0These included Jamila Perritt, President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health. PRH’s\u00a0stated mission<\/a>\u00a0includes\u00a0advocating<\/a>\u00a0for abortion and\u00a0abortion providers<\/a>. PRH is funded<\/a> by original investors of the abortion pill manufacturer,\u00a0Danco<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0namely, the\u00a0Packard Foundation<\/a>\u00a0and the Soros-funded\u00a0Open Society Foundations<\/a>.\u00a0Also speaking at the hearing was\u00a0Herminia Palacio, President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, a former “special affiliate<\/a>” of Planned Parenthood founded<\/a> by leading eugenicist Alan F. Guttmacher.\u00a0According to\u00a0Palacio, over “75% of the abortion patients in the United States are low income and the majority are people of color.”<\/p>\n

Today, we know abortion disproportionately impacts the Black community.\u00a0In 2018<\/a>, the Black\u00a0abortion rate<\/strong>\u00a0was nearly\u00a03.4 times higher<\/em> than the white abortion rate<\/u>\u00a0(21.2 v. 6.3) and\u00a01.9 times higher<\/em> than the Hispanic\u00a0abortion rate\u00a0<\/u>(21.2 v 10.9).<\/p>\n

Several additional claims and assumptions were made in the hearing, which are addressed below.<\/p>\n

False claim #1: Low-income women cannot afford abortions; therefore, the taxpayer should be forced to fund them.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

“On average an abortion at 10 weeks costs around $550, which could be somebody’s rent payment and increases over time,” the Guttmacher president told the committee.<\/p>\n

Despite the abortion lobby’s attempts to claim<\/a>\u00a0poor women need the public to pay for their abortions, they know full well statistics show that when abortion is subsidized<\/a> by taxpayers, abortions increase<\/em><\/strong>. This means the abortion industry stands to gain financially should its friends in Congress succeed in doing away with Hyde. A\u00a0survey published by Guttmacher in 2017\u00a0revealed<\/a>\u00a0that women who have taxpayer-funded abortions tend to have\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0abortions.<\/p>\n

In addition, the cost of abortion is set by the abortion industry, which is not known for holding the highest standards nor avoiding financial\u00a0conflicts of interest<\/a>. If the industry claims the cost of abortion is too high for low-income women, perhaps those who sell and support abortion should dig into their profits<\/a> to help rather than placing the burden on the backs of the taxpayers, who overwhelmingly<\/a> oppose<\/a> funding abortion.<\/p>\n

If the abortion lobby is able to con the political class into doing away with Hyde, it will be a boon for them\u00a0\u2014 not for low-income women. After all, the cost of abortion pills averages under $100<\/em>, yet the abortion industry sells them to abortion clients at nearly\u00a0six times<\/em>\u00a0the cost. The abortion industry is estimated<\/a> to gross nearly $200 million annually in abortion pill sales\u00a0\u2014 twice as much money as initially\u00a0projected<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 with Planned Parenthood alone taking in approximately half of those sales.<\/p>\n

False claim #2: The need for taxpayer funded abortion is urgent due to COVID-19.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A recently\u00a0revised court decision by U.S. District Judge\u00a0Theodore D. Chuang enjoined the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) safety protocols (REMS) requiring an in-person visit to obtain the abortion pill.\u00a0Chuang\u2019s order means that women can now obtain\u00a0the abortion pill<\/a>\u00a0from largely unregulated online websites as well as pharmacies<\/a>\u00a0without being seen in person by a health professional to evaluation gestational age, potential ectopic pregnancy, or any other health risk factors.<\/p>\n

Due to Chuang’s order, abortion pill websites are popping up across the nation, undercutting the cost of abortion at brick-and-mortar facilities like Planned Parenthood and driving down the price of early abortion to less than $200.<\/p>\n

False claim #3: The Hyde Amendment is racist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Guttmacher’s president, “The Hyde Amendment is a racist policy.” She also cited the Turnaway Study \u2014\u00a0which has been thoroughly<\/a>\u00a0and repeatedly<\/a> debunked<\/a> for years \u2014\u00a0in her speech to the committee.<\/p>\n

It is utter hypocrisy for the abortion industry to claim any high road on the topic of racism. Industry leader\u00a0Planned Parenthood has a long history<\/a>\u00a0of racism and eugenics, and finally admitted<\/a>\u00a0in 2020 that its founder Margaret Sanger was a racist white supremacist. Planned Parenthood corporate<\/a>, along with\u00a0at least 19 affiliates, also\u00a0acknowledged<\/a> a present-day problem of\u00a0systemic racism\u00a0within the organization.<\/p>\n

Recently, Buzzfeed\u00a0documented<\/a>\u00a0additional accusations of racism at the national office of\u00a0NARAL<\/a>, as well as\u00a0other<\/a>\u00a0reproductive rights organizations such as the\u00a0National Organization for Women (NOW)<\/a>. The Population Council, which brought the abortion pill into the US and set up the pill’s manufacturer, Danco Manufacturing, LLC, has also been accused<\/a> of having a racist past.<\/p>\n

Abortionist Daniel Grossman recently\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0that “racism and white supremacy are deeply ingrained<\/a>” within abortion organizations he directs. Grossman is\u00a0heavily tied<\/a>\u00a0to the abortion industry, serving as\u00a0Senior Advisor with Ibis Reproductive Health (see more here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

False claim #4: Minority women need bodily autonomy (abortion) due to past injustices.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is true that there have been injustices inflicted upon poor women of color, including forced sterilizations.\u00a0It is also true that many behind the injustices were heavily involved in eugenics and paved the way<\/a> for abortion in the United States and abroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, advocates<\/a>\u00a0of forced sterilization and eugenics like Margaret Sanger are more well known but lesser known groups and individuals have been\u00a0detailed at Live Action News\u00a0here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>.\u00a0Another powerful resource on this history is the powerful documentary film\u00a0Maafa21<\/a>, clipped below:<\/p>\n