During my time in Congress, I regularly introduced legislation forbidding
organizations that perform abortions from receiving federal funding. The US
Government should not force taxpayers to subsidize an activity they believe
is murder. Thus, while I was horrified by the recently released videos showing
Planned Parenthood officials casually discussing selling the organs of aborted
babies, I am glad that the reaction to these videos has renewed efforts to
end federal funding of abortion.
My experience in Congress does not leave me optimistic that federal funding
of Planned Parenthood will be ended this year, however. This is not just because
the current US president is pro-abortion. When I started my efforts to end
taxpayer support of abortion, I was shocked to find out how many Republicans,
including some self-described "pro-life" leaders, were unsupportive of, and
sometimes hostile to, my efforts.
Most pro-life politicians preferred to add language to funding bills prohibiting
federal funds from being used for abortions, rather than denying federal funds
to abortion providers. This approach does not stop US taxpayers from subsidizing
abortions. The reason is that money is fungible. Giving Planned Parenthood
$100 to use for non-abortion activities allows it to spend an additional $100
of its non-government funds on abortion.
Foreign interventionists in both parties were particularly hostile to my efforts
to eliminate federal funding for international organizations that performed
or promoted abortions. This is a foolish policy that gives people around the
globe another reason to resent the US government.
Planned Parenthood may have abandoned the explicitly racist and eugenic views
of its founder Margaret Sanger, but the majority of its abortion "services" are
still provided to lower-income and minority women. Every day nearly 2,000 African-American
babies lose their lives to abortion, a rate five times higher than the Caucasian
abortion rates.
I support the black lives matter movement. I have long advocated an end to
the drug war, police militarization, and other threats to liberty that disproportionately
victimize African-Americans. However, I wish some of the black lives matter
movement's passion and energy was directed to ending abortion. Unborn black
lives also matter.
The federal government has no constitutional authority to permit, fund, or
even outlaw abortion. Therefore, efforts to make abortion a federal crime are
just as unconstitutional as efforts to prohibit states from outlawing abortion.
A Congress that truly cared about the Constitution would end all federal funding
for abortion and pass legislation restricting federal jurisdiction over abortion,
thus returning the issue to the states.
While passing legislation may help limit abortion, the pro-life movement will
never succeed unless it changes people's attitudes toward the unborn. This
is why crisis pregnancy centers, which provide care and compassion to women
facing unplanned pregnancies, have done more to advance the pro-life cause
then any politician. By showing women they have viable alternatives to abortion,
these centers have saved many lives.
One factor hindering the anti-abortion movement's ability to change people's
minds is that too many abortion opponents also support a militaristic foreign
policy. These pro-lifers undercut their moral credibility as advocates for
unborn American lives when they display a callous indifference to the lives
of Iraqi, Iranian, and Afghan children.
Libertarians who support abortion should ask themselves how they can expect
a government that does not respect the unborn's right to life to respect their
property rights. Therefore, all those who wish to create a society of liberty,
peace, and prosperity should join me in advocating for a consistent ethic of
life and liberty that respects the rights of all persons, born and unborn.
