Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections This is a PDF from our textual collections. Collection: Blackwell, Morton: Files Folder: [National Pro-Life Political Action Committee] Box: 14 To see more digitized collections visit: https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit: https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected] Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing ♦ -~--\ ~ ilabelpltta nqntrer ,; 1981, The Philadelphia Inquirer Tuesday, May 19, 1981 Donald J. Devine, the Reagan ad­ Congress limited federal financing ministration's -personnel director · to abortions required to save the life Abortiori and a former member of the board of of the mother or to cases that result­ directors of the Life Political Action' ed from rape or incest. Reagan has Committee, says he has sole authori­ proposed eliminating rape and incest ty to. make the change in health in• · pregnancies as qualifying for gov­ foes having surance coverage. The American ernment-paid abortions and even Federation of Government Employ­ permitting states to veto the use of ees, a union representing some feder­ Medicaid funds for abortions in cases a good year al workers,. says ·Devine would be in which a woman's life is in danger. challenged if he tried. Congress overlooked health clinics By Mike Feinsilber Devine also says. he is considering on Indian reservations. which per• Associated Press removing the Planned Parenthood formed 638 abortions last year. So the WASHINGTON - The anti-abor­ Federation as a recipient of funds Interior Department. with jurisidic­ t ionists who moved into office with raised through the annual charity tion over Indian matters, is moving President Reagan have begun to drive among federal workers. Affili­ to adopt regulati0ns to eliminate shape the government to reflect ates of Planned Parenthood perform most reservation abortions, too. their views. 70,000 abortions a year. All in all, the anti-abortion move­ They have discontinued abortion ment is pleased with the way things research funded by the Agency for But, aside from those areas,' a sur­ are gomg vey finds few instances where the International Development and have "We have virtually taken over the moved to halt ·abortions in health new administration has had an op­ portunity to put its anti-abortion Department of Health and Human clinics on Indian rcservatfons. Services," glows Peter Gemma. direc­ Far more significantly, tpey arc viewpoints into effect without action from Congress, which is considering tor of the Pro-Life Political Action, considering rewriting government CommittetJ. "We• have scored very health insurance policies so that anti-abortion steps of its own. well. We have friends in all parts of abortions would no longer be co­ Thal''s because there isn't• much the government. From : a pro-life vered. If aborti_on coverage is no left for the administration to do. In viewpoint; Td. give the administra­ longer covered · by government . past years, Congress sharply reduced tion's !irstjOO days in office a:grade health insurance, it might also be. the government's role in financing ofA,m-mus;- dropped from nongovernment Poli­ abortion. In 1977, Medicaid financed cies, advocates of abortion rights say_, 295,000 abortions; lasfyear the num­ "We entitely expect that the gov­ ber was 6,900. - ernment will say it no longer .wants · abortions covered," said Marguerite Bec:k-Rex, spokeswoman for the Na­ tional Abortion Rights Action League. "Many providers might find it too.complicated.to cover abortiollS in som~_contracts· and not in others; they might leave it' out of. all con• tracts ifthe goyetnment does this."" M E M O R A N D U M TO: The President +~' ft.:_ Director of 0MB, David Stockman Sec. of State, Alexander Haig / Sec. of Health & Human Services, Richard Schweiker_ ~~~ FROM: Fr. Charles Fiore, o. P., Chairma tional Pro-L~fe /,),.4G~/ P.A.C., Falls Church, VA.; Chairman, Frie ~ Chicago, IL. RE: Budget Cuts: Title X Funds (Public Health Services Act of 1970) Title X Funds (Foreign Assistance Act) Funding under the current three-year appropriation for Title X expires with this fiscal year. Hearings on renewal of funding are tentatively scheduled for April, in the Senate Health & Human Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Hatch. Who Gets Title X Funding? Virtually all funds appropri­ ated under TitleX go to Planned Parenthood, the "private" agency which inspired its principal authors, the l~te Sens. Joseph Tydings of Maryland (who was a Board Member), and Ernest Gruening of Alaska. Planned Parenthood formul~ted the original legislation, and is the principal beneficiary' of it inasmuch as Planned Parenthood, at the time of Title X's ini­ tiation, was the prime repository of technical knowledge on family planning. In effect, Title X underwrites the continued operations of Planned Parenthood, ·freeing up virtually all of its privately donated funds for abortion and abortion­ related services. Planned Parenthood currently runs almost 40 abortion clinics in major cities, and is acknowledged as the prime promotor of abortion in the U. s. today. Its sex education programs for teenagers ( "Teen Scenes") promote promiscuity and sexual indulgence, including homosexuality, and are available to young people withoµt parental knowledge or consent. What Title X Does ••• and Does Not Do. Title X was set up exclusively to fund and maintain family planning clinics and services ••• not to aid individuals. No individual ser­ vices in family planning are paid for from Title X funds to Planned Parenthood. Rather, services provided to indivi­ duals counselled by Planned Parenthood are paid for by third-party reimbursements to P.P. from other programs such as Medicaid. In effect, by using Title X funds, Planned Parenthood promotes and creates additional need for family planning services. But the.se services are always paid for from pro­ grams other than Title X. Title X simply subsidizes the self-perpetuating work of P.P. as an agency whose purpose is to promote family planning ••• and so itself ••• at the ex­ pense of the taxpayers! Budget Cuts: Title X Funds, Public Health/Foreign Assistance 2. What Happens If Title X Deleted? No individual wanting family planning services, and requesting such from a public or private doctor or agency would be denied them. These services would continue to be supplied the individual (as they presently are) via third-party reimbursements (e.g. the services of the doctors being paid for) such as in Medi­ caid. What About Other Title X Projects? Although the bulk of Title X funds underwrite the self-perpetuation of Planned Parenthood, some Title X funds under the Public Health Ser­ vices Act of 1970 also go to underwrite research into popula­ tion and behavioral control (e.g. why do some parents have large families?), and into research on the contraceptive pills and I • U • D • ' s • This research under Title Xis already reduplicative of research being done under the aegis of the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, and would continue to be done by N.I.H. at less expense and without the present overlapping. Justification for Title X No Longer Exists. The framers of Title X funding originally justified the huge tax expendi­ tures because of what was popularly termed (and sold) as "the population explosion." With easily available contraception, and with abortion of mdre than 1,300,000 American babies annually (the figures are certainly higher due to gaps :)..n reporting), the "danger" of a population explosion no longer exists. As a matter of fact, official government figures indicate that u. S. popula­ tion growth has been at less than replacement level (ZPG/ zero population growth) for a number of years. What Effects on American Economy and Future? With lower birth-rates for many years in the U. s., and with the anticipated baby-bust due to family planning and the abortion that is now rampant in the nation, the economic effects are already being felt in family- and child-related industries, with a ripple-effect in education through primary and second­ ary schools, and soon, universities and colleges. As the anti-family, anti-baby philosophy reaches its .full effects, within 10-20 more years, the economic effects on the work-force and the tax-base of municipalities (with closing businesses and jobs going begging), states and the federal government will be critical. All the 'Mlile, the median age of the nation grows older, more people are expect­ ing government benefits to which they have been told they are entitled, and fewer will, in fact, be receiving them, because when the tax-paying populace shrinks ••• for whatever ·reason ••• the "goose the lays the golden eggs" (U. s. Treasury) cuts back on egg production! Summing Up: One billion dollars currently being spent -- ' ... - Budget Cuts: Title X Funds, Public Health/Foreign Assistance 3. under Title X by Planned Parenthood and various other agencies can be eliminated without making the services unavailable to those in need, and without, therefore depriving needy indi­ viduals .of family planning, or the government of population research projects. TITLE X FUNDING OF FOREIGN AID ASSISTANCE ACT: Approximately another $1,000,000,000.00 (one billion dollars) is currently appropriated under this Title and Act for similar services as set forth above, but in the foreign aid program. Not only are these services being underwritten by the American taxpayers totally without benefit to them, but few realize that their dollars are subsidizing such "foreign aid," thinking instead that they are supplying foodstuffs and other life-essentials to the starving and poor. Does the u. s. believe that condoms, diaphragms, and abortion information and equipment exported to the other nations enhances our reputation and build friendship between our.country and the poor of other nations? Or rather is not the message communicated to the poor of other lands by such means of "foreign aid" that "the people of the United States love you so much that we want fewer of you by whatever means possible ••• "? Savings if eliminated ••• another billion dollars.