Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Silt introduced her first bill of the 118th Congress – the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which would prohibit federal tax money from going to Planned Parenthood.
According to the bill text, about $235 million would be redirected to other community health centers that provide women’s health care services if the bill becomes law. The act would prohibit any of these centers that do receive funding from performing an abortion, with an exception for rape or incest, as well as circumstances that would put the pregnant person’s life at risk.
“The nation’s largest abortion provider has no business receiving taxpayer dollars,” Boebert said in a news release. “Instead of funding Planned Parenthood, my bill will redirect this funding to community health centers that actually meet the health needs of women across the country.”
The bill would implement a one-year moratorium on federal funding for Planned Parenthood starting on the date it is enacted. It says funding would not be made available to any Planned Parenthood affiliates unless they certify they will not provide funding toward abortion during that period.
Fellow Colorado Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Windsor co-sponsored the bill, which is supported by the organizations Students for Life of America, the National Right to Life Committee, Heritage Action and Concerned Women for America.
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