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| Image source: Freeimages.com/Adriana Cal |
First off, this post is not intended to convince a supporter of Planned Parenthood that Congress should defund the organization, and it’s not intended to argue for defunding the organization (personally, I’m very torn about this issue). Rather, this is intended to show why it makes sense for pro-life people to support defunding Planned Parenthood despite the fact that no federal dollars are used for abortions in most circumstances.
In 2012, the CEO of Chick-fil-A made statements regarding his support for heterosexual marriage and opposition to gay marriage, and an LGBT watchdog group revealed that the company donated money to organizations deemed anti-LGBT. Those who support LGBT rights decided to boycott the restaurant chain, while those who support traditional marriage went to the restaurants (Wikipedia article). This is a classic example of people using their dollars to vote their conscience.
These events are well-known, but now we’re going to journey to a hypothetical world. Imagine that to help poor people find food to eat, the federal government decided to pay fast food restaurants to feed people. It’s a big stretch, but just work with me for a minute. There are various ways the government could pay for this, so we won’t worry about it. Suffice it to say that the government is paying for this with taxpayer money, and Chick-fil-A is one of the companies receiving money.
Now, taking aside the objections to the government paying fast food restaurants overall, would LGBT advocates be unhappy with the government giving money to Chick-fil-A in particular? It’s certainly possible. Now, imagine that Chick-fil-A assures us that the government money is only used to provide food to poor people, and in any case, only 3% of the company’s total money is used to fund anti-LGBT organizations. Would that appease LGBT activists, or would they still be unhappy with money going toward that organization?
Comparing this situation with the proposal to defund Planned Parenthood is imperfect, obviously, but I hope it gets my point across. Planned Parenthood provides plenty of great healthcare services, but on the other hand, it also kills hundreds of thousands of innocent people every year. (You can consult PP’s two most recent annual reports for exact numbers.) Do its positive services outweigh killing so many people? It’s a tough question. To some, the answer is a firm no, and understandably, these people don’t want to be forced to give money to an organization they vehemently disagree with, just like in my hypothetical situation, LGBT-rights activists may not like being forced to give money to Chick-fil-A.
There's a lot more I could go into, but to keep this post short and focused, I'll end right here. In short, people want the freedom to use their money to vote their conscience and not be forced in any way to support an organization they dislike.
