Commentary

In the closing months of 2016, much is happening in the country’s abortion wars.

The President, in a bold attempt to protect his pals at Planned Parenthood, has pushed through a new rule which seeks to ensure public funding of the nefarious organization into the future. Obama’s HHS rule, which takes effect on January 18, outlaws any efforts by the states to deny taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood affiliates operating within their borders.  Adding to the moral outrage of using our tax money to fund the Abortion Industry – Obama has now reached new heights of federal coercion.  For him and most liberals, the 10^th Amendment simply does no exist.  The States are simply an organizational step of the Great Central Government.

But, in a strange way, this outrage may actually help us end the abuse of taxpayers altogether in the new Congress. Obama’s strong-arm tactics may add fuel to the effort to stop Congressional funding of Planned Parenthood altogether: It would be the simplest way to make his new rule irrelevant.

On another front, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee issued a formal report on its year-long investigation of the sordid aborted-baby-parts-industry. The report, signed by Chairman Chuck Grassley, includes a formal referral to the U.S. Justice Department, recommending criminal investigation and prosecution of four different Planned Parenthood affiliates.  The referral also recommends charges against three organ procurement companies.

This is no small matter, as the committee investigation points to a potential RICO investigation of Planned Parenthood.

The actions by the Senate committee complement the work of the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, chaired by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). That panel has just issued a separate report and also made recommendations to the U.S. Justice Department that criminal prosecutions be pursued.

“Speaking as a woman, I am deeply troubled by what we have learned about the mistreatment of patients at a particularly difficult and vulnerable time in their lives. They are being treated with a disregard for their best interests and their rights as patients,” Rep. Blackburn said in a press statement.  “Women deserve better than this. … We’ve seen instances in which profit-driven procurement businesses acting in conjunction with [abortion] clinics violate women’s privacy rights under HIPPA.”

While there is no chance that our corrupt AG Lynch will take action on the Congressional recommendations, we are hopeful that the new Justice Department under Jeff Sessions might. And, in any event, the investigations provide even greater cause for Congress to sever their partnership with the Death Industry.