WASHINGTON UPDATE 10/20/2015

October 20, 2015 | Permalink Crime Seen: States Respond to Abortion Wrongs It looks like Texas is seceding -- from Planned Parenthood! The second largest state in America is making the biggest statement on Cecile Richards's group this week, by shedding the organization's lucrative Medicaid contract. Governor Greg Abbott (R), who is following in his predecessor's pro-life boot steps, announced the move yesterday -- the same day that a federal judge blocked Louisiana's efforts to do the same. Undeterred, Abbott said, "Texas has stepped forward and shown its unyielding commitment to both protecting life and providing women's health services." Regardless of how the courts rule, the Governor made it clear that "The gruesome harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood will not be allowed in Texas and the barbaric practice must be brought to an end. As such, ending the Medicaid participation of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the State of Texas is another step in providing greater access to safe healthcare for women while protecting our most vulnerable -- the unborn." State Medicaid funding, which is one of the biggest pots of Planned Parenthood's money, has kept the group afloat through one scandal after another. Even when the group confessed to more than $200 million in government fraud, lawmakers continued pumping money into the abortion mogul's bank accounts. Now, with the image of beating baby hearts burned into taxpayers' minds, states like Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana are doing what Congress has thus far refused to do -- pulling the plug on the group's cash and redirecting the money to other health clinics. In Louisiana, where judicial activism put the brakes on the state's budget decision, Governor Bobby Jindal's office could only shake its head at the court's restraining order. "Planned Parenthood is engaging in classic misdirection regarding the millions they have repaid in Medicaid fraud and their own admissions in the baby parts trafficking videos. Instead of going through the same administrative review as any other Medicaid provider, they are running to the federal courts and asking for special treatment." And of course, when the bench isn't getting in the way of state's rights, President Obama is. In the last few years, we've seen the Obama administration reach its long arms into states like Texas and threaten to pull other funding if they dared redirect Medicaid contracts to trusted, law-abiding health centers. But Washington's intimidation machine hasn't done much to scare off leaders like Jindal and Abbott -- or congressional pro-lifers for that matter. With more Americans piling on, House and Senate conservatives are shifting to a creative plan to end the forced partnership between taxpayers and Planned Parenthood. Working in conjunction with pro-life organizations, GOP leaders devised a strategy to send a defunding bill straight to the President. As Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) told reporters, "People think, well gosh, you guys control Congress. You should be able to reverse and stop this. The problem is, in this case, the Constitution. We will be moving a bill to the President's desk... dealing with the Medicaid component of Planned Parenthood. I think could better put that funding into federally qualified health clinics." As early as this Friday, the House will be voting on a budget reconciliation bill that not only sends a dagger into the heart of Planned Parenthood's taxpayer funding but also hollows out ObamaCare. Republicans chose this maneuver because, unlike normal legislation, reconciliation operates outside of the filibuster process -- meaning that conservatives will only need a simple majority to pass it out of Congress. Of course, Planned Parenthood sees the danger in this momentum and is lashing out. Late yesterday, they called the effort to defund their organization a "national scandal." In reality, the only scandal is that America has been funding the group as long as it has! It's time for Republicans in Congress to follow the example of state GOP leaders and end the flow of tax dollars to Planned Parenthood. Houston Sends 'Dear John' Letter on Bathroom Bill In the battle over the Houston's Proposition 1 bathroom bill, LGBT activists don't have to pay for advertising. The media is doing plenty of it -- for free! The latest example is an angry piece in the Washington Post, in which Jonathan Capehart tries -- unsuccessfully -- to tamp down fears about the measure's effects. In most of the rant, he takes aim at anyone in Houston who dares to share what the law would actual do -- which is force local businesses to celebrate homosexuality and allow grown men and women to enter opposite-sex public bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms whenever they "feel" their biology doesn't apply. If anyone's guilty of "misinformed hysteria," it's the ordinance's blind support! Not only does the ordinance explicitly state that it's illegal to bar a person from another bathroom -- but it fines anyone who does object up to $5,000! Capehart ignores this, of course, as do many of the measure's apologists. That's why the FRC Action's Super PAC, Faith Family Freedom Fund, is launching a new ad campaign in Houston to set the record straight. To watch the spot, click below. Warning: Side effects may include laughter. FRC Tips Its Hat to Green Beret If most people read the following, they'd think it was an appropriate reprimand for a child rapist: "Your behavior is inexcusable... and inconsistent with the trust we place in [you] to make sound decisions. Your conduct is a discredit to you... It cannot and will not be tolerated." Now, imagine that it's not a rebuke of a sexual predator -- but a decorated Green Beret! Unfortunately, that's the reality Sergeant First Class Charles Martland finds himself in after stepping between a young Afghan boy and his serial abuser. After Martland found out the child had been tied to a post and raped for two weeks, he demanded to see his attacker, who happened to be a member of the local Afghan police. While U.S. soldiers are taught to look the other way at this kind of barbarism, Martland says he felt a "moral obligation" to act. And act he did, slamming the rapist to the ground and throwing him off base. Now, as reward for his heroism, the U.S. Army is kicking him out of the military! The news that Charles Martland could be discharged for doing what our soldiers were taught -- protecting the vulnerable -- has stunned and outraged Americans all across the country. More than 150,000 of them are demanding that the House and Senate lean on the Army to reinstate the Sergeant and honor him for the stand he took. This morning, FRC's own Special Forces Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (U.S. Army-Ret.) personally delivered that message to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), in the form of the tens of thousands of petitions FRC and AFA collected in Martland's defense. Like Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who welcomed a similar delivery last week, Rep. Thornberry was pleased to see the overwhelming support for one of the country's finest. If he and his committee have anything to do with it, Martland's discharge will be a temporary one. Already, the House requested (and received) a two-month extension for the Sergeant's appeal process through Army Secretary John McHugh. Let's hope the extra time will translate into extra protection for a man who acted exactly as a U.S. soldier should! Tony Perkins' Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC Action senior writers.