Abortion, funding debate ongoing

As the debate continues over whether to continue providing federal funding to Planned Parenthood, local residents are weighing in on the issue of abortion and how government should be involved.

According to the Hyde Amendment, a federal legislative provision passed in 1976, no federal funding can legally be used to provide abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when the pregnancy endangers the health of the mother.

Republicans are making every effort to make that provision a permanent law. On May 4, the House of Representatives passed the H.R. 3 bill, also known as the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act," which would make the Hyde Amendment a federal law.

If passed in the Senate and signed into law by President Obama, the bill would make it illegal to deduct the cost of an abortion procedure from one’s taxable income. It would also deny tax credits to businesses offering health insurance plans that cover abortions. White House officials say Obama has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

Planned Parenthood advocates say that although the organization receives government funding, it is incorrect to assume that this pays for abortions.

“No federal funding we get goes to abortions,” said Betty DeFazio, director of community affairs and public policy for Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse region. She added that 93 percent of its family planning services, such as rape crisis care, contraception and birth control and cancer screenings, are preventative in nature.

“Most people recognize that if you want to reduce abortion, you need to reduce unintended pregnancy,” she said.

But some pro-life advocates say that any organization that provides medical services is automatically compromised when it receives funding from the government.

“When government makes a moral decision, it most necessarily funds what it believes is right,” said Jim Harden, president of CompassCare Pregancy Services in Rochester, a non-profit that provides free services including ultrasounds and pregnancy screening consultations and referrals for pregnant women. “It’s an unstated agenda that’s actually taking advantage of the public.”

He continued to explain that the government’s role should not be to provide domestic medical care, because this runs the risk of forcing patients to make a certain choice based on what services are readily available. When it comes to abortion, agencies, and hence, pro-choice ideologies with government backing will likely have greater influence, he said.

“America is founded on the principle that the individual is sovereign, and all medical care is based on that principle,” said Harden. “Now it’s the other way around — we place society over the individual,” he added. “If the individual is sovereign, what does that mean for the baby? It requires the child to be dehumanized in the womb. This is what Roe v. Wade was really about — declassifying a category of people.”

The issue is heating up at the state level, as well. Last Wednesday in Indiana, a federal judge lifted a restraining order on legislation that would cut off $3 million in federal funding to Planned Parenthood. This bill is the first in U.S. history to prohibit the use of Medicaid at Planned Parenthood clinics. And in Pennsylvania last week, House Republicans showed opposition to changing a bill that would increase regulations for abortion clinics.

But not all pro-choice organizations get government checks each month. For example, local volunteers started a free hotline for women who have previously had abortions, called Connect and Breathe. The Rochester-based organization started in January, and allows women to call and speak with a volunteer to help cope with post-abortion feelings of guilt or depression.

Choosing to have an abortion is a difficult choice for anyone, said co-founder John McCarthy, who says legislation to cut off funding for abortion providers is an assault on women’s reproductive rights. By being a non-judgmental listening presence, the hotline just made sense.

“Everybody has a different story when it comes to making a choice,” he said. “We want to help lift that stigma of guilt and shame.”

Mary Jost of East Rochester, director of Focus Pregnancy Help Center in Rochester, says turning away from this choice is the first step. She and a group of volunteers stand outside the Planned Parenthood offices on University Avenue three days a week holding signs and graphic images as people walk into the clinic.

“When you show the truth of what they’re about to do, it saves lives,” she said. “We bring reality right into their faces.”

And while the debate on whether or not abortion is ethical shows no signs of ending, Democratic legislators including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York’s junior senator; and Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, have said that the H.R.3 bill has only drawn attention away from more pressing issues, such as job creation.

“If passed into law, this bill would pressure private health insurance plans to stop offering that coverage altogether,” said Slaughter, “and that ... is the purpose of this bill.”

DeFazio of Planned Parenthood agrees.

“If your real platform is on the job market and economy, you should be focusing on things that are economically smart and not penalizing small businesses.”

The bill has yet to go before the Senate. In the meantime, people like Jost are continuing to show where they stand.

“You can’t give up,” she said.