California Catholic Lobby Day denies abortion solves state budget problems

Sacramento, Calif., Apr 14, 2010 / 23:23 pm

In anticipation of Catholic Lobby Day, the California Catholic Conference (CCC) has called for an end to state funding of abortions and a halt to taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and similar groups. Noting the resistance to the cuts, it condemned the idea that abortion is a solution to budgetary social or personal problems.

The 12th annual Catholic Lobby Day is scheduled for April 27 at the state capitol in Sacramento. According to the California Catholic Daily, the backgrounders for the event mark a major departure from previous years, in which abortion was not included as a significant issue.

The CCC backgrounder on the state budget notes that budget reductions are proposed for social services but funding continues for institutions like Planned Parenthood which perform abortions. The latter groups claim their services will save the state money.

“This contrast in funding priorities and budget choices should alarm each of us. Those who are vulnerable and voiceless (literally in the case of the unborn children) are being placed at risk. Funds are allocated to programs designed to eliminate those at the beginning of life while funds are withheld from those at the end of their life or from those who are unable to or struggle to provide for themselves.

“Abortion is the taking of a human life yet our tax dollars are used to fund this immoral practice,” the backgrounder continues.

Its talking points section says that abortion can never be the ‘solution’ to a budgetary, societal or personal problem.

The CCC provides a separate backgrounder on abortion funding in the state budget, saying that California Planned Parenthood received at least one-third of their funds from the taxpayers and performed one-quarter of all abortions in the state.

“In the calendar year 2007, Medi-Cal used taxpayer money to pay for 80,069 abortions,” the CCC reports. It also notes the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) received $349.6 million in federal taxpayer funding.

“During this budget crisis, when safety net programs for the poor and vulnerable, family healthcare services and education are all experiencing cuts, we should not be using taxpayer funds to pay for abortions which actually destroy the most vulnerable,” the CCC recommends Lobby Day participants tell legislators.

According to the California Catholic Daily, the Lobby Day agenda also includes promoting access to food stamps, outlawing life without parole sentences for juveniles, and the California Dream Act which would allow undocumented immigrants to apply for financial aid to attend state colleges and universities.