By Kaylee Tegethoff

On August 19, 2019, Planned Parenthood doubled down on their commitment to abortion by withdrawing from the federally-funded Title X family planning program. Planned Parenthood gave up about $60 million of your tax dollars instead of accepting the new Title X requirements implemented by the Trump Administration.

The new requirements, termed the “Protect Life Rule,” require all federal funds provided through the program be sent to organizations that do not perform or refer for abortions. These requirements uphold the intent of the original law creating the Title X program.

The estimated $60 million Planned Parenthood receives each year in Title X funds accounts for about a tenth of the total taxpayer funding the abortion giant receives. Although the Protect Life Rule eliminates just a small portion of their funding, it is still an important and influential first step in defunding Planned Parenthood.

The Protect Life Rule also demonstrates President Trump’s commitment to protecting the unborn and conscience rights. Instead of that $60 million enriching abortion providers, those funds will be redirected to non-abortion health clinics.

Even without your tax dollars, Planned Parenthood continues to profit from abortions, including late-term abortions through primarily the dismemberment procedure. Right to Life of Michigan and grassroots volunteers across the state are hard at work collecting signatures to ban the dismemberment abortion procedure in Michigan. You can learn more and join the effort at michiganvalueslife.org.

Banning dismemberment abortions in Michigan will cut the profits of abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood and save the lives of vulnerable unborn children. Just as the Protect Life Rule proved Planned Parenthood’s top priority is their abortion services, the petition drive to end dismemberment abortions exposes the abortion industry and their radical commitment to ending lives through barbaric abortion procedures.

Prolife efforts are winning at the national, state and local level. We can see the progress being made on the federal level with the Trump Administration’s implementation of the Protect Life Rule. On the state level, the ongoing petition drive to end dismemberment abortions continues to receive thousands of signatures every day.

Locally, we’ve seen several recent successes. In April, Muskegon County ended Planned Parenthood’s sweetheart deal allowing them access to the county health building. The most recent numbers show their county health department is serving even more patients as a result.

Diverting taxpayer funds and banning barbaric abortion procedures are two areas of life-saving prolife progress worth celebrating.