Texas Planned Parenthood IS NOT a terrorist organization?

A Texas law that strips Planned Parenthood of state funds is going forward. A previous decision by US District Judge Lee Yeakel to fund Planned Parenthood with money from the Texas Women's Health Program was overruled by Federal Appeals Judge Jerry E. Smith. This means state funds flowing to Planned Parenthood will stop.

AUSTIN, TX (Catholic Online) - Judge Yeakel's earlier decision to continue funding was immediately appealed by the State. Appellate Court Judge Smith reinstated the imposition of law that Yeakel had enjoined only hours before. 

During the appeal, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott raised eyebrows when he apparently equated Planned Parenthood to a terrorist organization. He later clarified the statement to say that he was making an analogy rather than labeling the group outright.

Abbott told the court, "Planned Parenthood does not provide any assurance that the tax subsidies it receives from the Women's Health Program have not been used directly or indirectly to subsidize its advocacy of elective abortion. Nor is it possible for Planned Parenthood to provide this assurance."

He continued, "Money is fungible, and taxpayer subsidies, even if 'earmarked' for non-abortion activities, free up other resources for Planned Parenthood to spend on its mission to promote elective abortions."

Anticipating Planned Parenthood's response, which is that they do not use taxpayer money to pay for abortions, Abbott mentioned the Federal Material Support Statute, which mandates criminal penalties for anyone who gives money to a terrorist organization. He explained that even if the money was used for humanitarian purposes, the contribution would still be a crime. 

Planned Parenthood's response was indignant doublespeak. They never responded to the substance of Abbot's contention. Melaney Linton, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast said, "In a state that leads the nation in the number of uninsured, where one in four Texas women lack health insurance, and women face the third highest rate of cervical cancer, I think it is appalling to make such a comparison when Planned Parenthood works every day to keep women healthy."

Of course, the statement is Orwellian precisely because there's nothing healthy about murder. Every procured abortion is the taking of an innocent human life in the womb.

Faced with this situation, Abbott told Judge Smith, "Consequently, the district court's preliminary injunction effectively forces Texas to choose between contravening state law and shutting down the [Texas Women's Health] program." 

Smith agreed with Abbott and upheld the law. 

The Attorney General's office later issued a statement on Abbot's comments. "Texas did not state, and does not believe, that Planned Parenthood is a terrorist organization or comparable to one. Period. When parties to lawsuits are wrong on the facts and wrong on the law, they resort to the same outrageous rhetoric Planned Parenthood is using today to distract from the real issues."

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Of course, this raises the question: what do you call an organization that systematically murders children by the thousands, if not terrorist?

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