McCarter calls for end to tax money for Planned Parenthood

State Sen. Kyle McCarter says Illinois should stop providing state dollars to Planned Parenthood, in response to hidden-camera footage showing a leader of the organization discussing the harvesting and sale of body parts from aborted babies.

“Given the recent stories, it would be a moral and fiscal failure for the legislature to finance any part of this group with hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” said McCarter, a Republican from Lebanon.

The recording by anti-abortion activists released last week shows Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, discussing procedures for providing fetal body parts to researchers. The commercial sale of fetal tissue is illegal, but Planned Parenthood has said it legally helps women who want to make not-for-profit donations of their fetus’ organs for scientific research.

Planned Parenthood told Congress on Monday that the recording is fraudulent and part of a pattern of harassment.

McCarter said the video “is a shock for the little-known details it reveals” about Planned Parenthood.

“Its revelations should give us pause to consider how we are spending our tax dollars,” McCarter said. “There are some state tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood, although most of the money they receive, as part of the state budget, are federal dollars with Illinois acting as the conduit. In recent years, Illinois government — in our names — have provided the agency with more than $7 million over the past three fiscal years.”

Carole Brite, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, took issue with McCarter’s statements.

“Senator McCarter’s remarks represent a politically-motivated attack on Planned Parenthood of Illinois and the patients who depend on our 17 health centers statewide for high-quality, compassionate and affordable health care,” Brite said. “Planned Parenthood is the most trusted women’s health care provider in this country. Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our patients, which is why we fight back hard against false charges and efforts to undermine our value to the health of women, teens and men in Illinois.”

McCarter said in light of the state’s budget deficit and ballooning government debt, Illinois’ financial resources are limited. The state’s new fiscal year began July 1, but Illinois government is without a budget as Democrat legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner remain at odds over spending and government reforms.

“I can think of many budget priorities that deserve our limited state tax dollars,” McCarter said. “Providing tax dollars to an organization that has a billion-dollar budget and gets more than a half a billion dollars from the federal government alone, should not be a priority for Illinois’ budget process.”

Abortion opponents found the videotaped discussion about body parts from aborted fetuses appalling. Planned Parenthood said the activity in question was the legal, not-for-profit donation of fetal tissue to research firms that is done only with the full consent of parents.

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 3:18 PM with the headline "McCarter calls for end to tax money for Planned Parenthood."