Obama Administration Directly Funds Planned Parenthood

The Obama administration has again circumvented state or local governments to fund the country's leading abortion provider, Baptist Press reports. Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis (Tenn.) will receive nearly $1.2 million from the Department of Health and Human Services during the next three years, a move that comes after the Tennessee legislature eliminated more than $700,000 in state funds for the Memphis Planned Parenthood affiliate and Shelby County transferred a nearly $400,000 family planning contract to another entity, according to the Nashville Tennessean. Last year, New Hampshire barred Planned Parenthood of Northern New Hampshire's six state clinics from receiving $1.8 million in federal and state family planning funds, but the Obama administration granted a $1 million contract to the organization three months later. Federal family planning funds may not be used for the performance of abortions, but pro-life advocates point out the government grants free up other funds for use in Planned Parenthood's abortion business. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its affiliates received government grants, contracts and reimbursements that totaled $487.4 million in 2009-10, the latest year for which statistics are available. PPFA's affiliates reported their clinics did 329,445 abortions in 2010.