Do your federal taxes fund abortions? Of course they do.
It’s true that the Hyde Amendment prohibits the Federal State from DIRECTLY paying for specific abortions, but that’s an arbitrary line, established because someone declared it exists. We maintain that your federal taxes really do pay for abortions because the supposed line between direct and indirect funding doesn’t really exist.
There is one word that explains the truth about abortion funding, and four other words that explain our position on this issue. Consider each of these words, and then draw your own conclusions. Let’s start with the most important word first . . .
FUNGIBLE
Money is fungible. A dollar used for one thing is exactly the same as a dollar used for another thing. The individual dollars are perfectly interchangeable. So . . .
What if federal politicians gave your tax money to a church, but with the limitation that the money could only be used for the soup kitchen, not for preaching?
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State would surely challenge this, arguing that it represents a partial “establishment of religion,” because tax funding for the soup kitchen would free-up other church resources that could then be used for proselytizing. In other words, tax money would be used to subsidize views that some may oppose.
In precisely the same way, if groups like Planned Parenthood get money to use for one part of their operations, they free up funds from other sources to be used for abortions. It really is that simple.
So you see, the Hyde Amendment really doesn’t stop tax funding of abortions. Your tax money is still subsidizing abortions, whether you like it or not. Which brings us to our next important word . . .
CHOICE
Those who advocate a right to abortion claim to be “pro-choice.”
But don’t those who oppose abortion have a right to NOT be forced to fund it?
We assert that they do. To truly be pro-choice, abortion providers must embrace voluntary funding as their sole means of support.
ENUMERATED POWERS
The Tenth Amendment makes clear that the powers of the Federal State are so limited that we can actually count them.
Can you find, in the Constitution, the power that authorizes Congress to fund abortion providers, or even “family planning?” We can’t.
It doesn’t exist.
CONSISTENCY
The decision, by Republicans, to divert the issue of spending cuts in the 2011 budget back to old, partisan hangups from the bygone culture war days, deserves criticism. It’s an attempt to . . .
* divert us from the enormity of the budgetary crisis.
* divide us — to scare people into supporting Republicans as the lesser of two evils, even if they don’t keep their Pledge to cut spending.
I signed a Downsizer-Dispatch, on April 13, 2001, that attacked this kind of manipulation.
Instead, we should all be CONSISTENT defenders of the Constitution, and more importantly, of the PRINCIPLES that underly it. For this reason we here at Downsize DC are CONSISTENTLY ANTI-PARTISAN. We are disinterested in partisan cheer-leading or supporting “the lesser of two evils.” That’s why we have CONSISTENTLY called for cuts to fan favorites of both the Left and the Right.
In the past, the Downsize DC team has earned the ire of conservatives who support war as a means of re-engineering the world, and who favor drug prohibition and other unconstitutional invasions of civil liberties. We also oppose the Left on such hypocrisies as denying choice to those who oppose abortion.
At Downsize DC we stand against expanding the power of the State and advocate serious cuts on EVERYTHING in the present budget. We urge you to join us in a consistent call to do the right thing. This is far more virtuous than cheering for the right team. We sincerely doubt that there is such a “right team,” but we can be sure that there are right principles.
Copyright (c) 2011 by Jim Babka. Permission to distribute this blog post for educational purposes is granted, if done with attribution to the author and the Downsize DC Foundation. Permission to use for commercial purposes is denied.
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