Leaders of pro-life groups met with Trump administration officials at the White House Wednesday to push for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, as Congress is working to reach a deal on a funding bill by December 7th to avert a government shutdown.
Live Action president Lila Rose, Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins, and representatives from the March for Life and the Susan B. Anthony List met with White House officials to push for pro-life goals, including defunding Planned Parenthood as President Trump promised on the campaign trail, before pro-abortion Democrats take control of the House in January.
They are asking that President Trump refuse to sign any budget that does not defund the abortion group.
“The vast majority of American women will never step into a Planned Parenthood facility in a given year,” Hawkins argued in a letter to Trump. “The health services they try to claim a monopoly on are better performed by Federally Qualified Health Centers. Compared to these community health centers, Planned Parenthood serves millions fewer patients, provides dozens fewer services, and spends their money far more inefficiently.”
“Yet Planned Parenthood receives over half a billion dollars of taxpayer money every year,” she added. “The math just doesn't add up.”
According to their latest annual report, Planned Parenthood got $543.7 million in taxpayer funding over this past year.
Students for Life is demanding that the president “refuse to sign any budget that doesn't defund Planned Parenthood where possible.”
Live Action president Lila Rose is also called on President Trump and pro-life members of Congress to “fulfill their campaign promises to defund Planned Parenthood of taxpayers dollars before the U.S. House is turned over to a pro-abortion majority in January.”
In a letter to the president she said, “there is one critical item that desperately needs your attention before pro-abortion Democrats take control of the House in January. One of your most important campaign pledges was to defund Planned Parenthood of the over $500 million it gets from taxpayers annually.”
“Planned Parenthood takes the lives of 900 innocent preborn children every day,” she emphasized. “They are the biggest abortion corporation in the nation. Planned Parenthood’s political arms spent over $20 million in the midterm elections to defeat the same pro-life politicians you campaigned for.”
Planned Parenthood president Dr. Leana Wen responded to the meeting Thursday claiming her group is “stigmatized.”
"Too often reproductive health care and women's health care are singled out, stigmatized and attacked," she said. "We will be expanding our reach by expanding our health care services, expanding our educational presence, expanding our political power."
"It's a daily struggle," she added. "It's been hard for us to focus on growth, when we've been focused on keeping our doors open."
Planned Parenthood performed 321,384 abortions over 2016-2017, according to their latest report.