County Council endorses a drastic increase in abortions

Note: This was written by CCFL board member Scott Tibbs, and represents his opinions, not necessarily those of Christian Citizens For Life.

Despite the fact that abortions in the state of Indiana declined by 8.5% statewide from 2015 to 2016, the Planned Parenthood "clinic" in Bloomington performed 23.6% more abortions last year than the year before. Planned Parenthood murdered 822 babies in 2015, and then murdered 1,016 babies in 2016. The Monroe County Council is perfectly fine with this, again giving thousands of dollars forcibly confiscated from taxpayers to a wicked and bloodthirsty organization that is killing far more babies than before.

We knew that the corporate welfare scheme was always going to pass by a 6-1 margin, so it was overkill for Planned Parenthood volunteers in their pink shirts to fill the council meeting room. I arrived early, and was quickly surrounded on all sides by PP volunteers. Why the show of force for a grant Planned Parenthood does not need, when the outcome was always a foregone conclusion? Because this is and always has been about a political endorsement for Planned Parenthood. This has never been about serving women.

What makes this even more loathsome is that $115,000.00 was distributed to social service agencies, but the total amount requested by social service agencies was $319,961.89. Does the county council really expect us to believe that of the $204,961.89 worth of requests that were denied, they could not find a more deserving organization to fund instead of an ultra-wealthy multinational corporation? Does the county council really think the people of Monroe County are that gullible?

The meeting took place at 5:30 p.m. Obviously, This is a problem. It is very difficult for most working people to get to a county council meeting within a half hour of getting out of work, and if they do they will find that the room is already packed with Planned Parenthood activists who have monopolized the seating. While the county council's 5:30 p.m. meeting time is an improvement over the 4:30 p.m. meeting time of years past, it still excludes too many taxpayers who pay the council's salary and health care benefits.

The process this year actually was predictable, which was shocking. (Think of how sad that is.) The county council has moved the vote all over the calendar in years past to hide it from the public. The most shameful vote was in 2012, when the council voted to fund Planned Parenthood two days after Christmas and the day after a blizzard. Say what you will about the city, but there is never any question what the timeline for the process will be. Hopefully this predictability will continue, but I have absolutely no trust that it will.

It is long past time for the county council to stop wasting taxpayer money to make a political endorsement of the local abortion mill, and insulting all of the organizations denied funding. If they must continue this wicked abuse of power, they need to be honest and honorable in the way they handle the grant process. At the very least, a predictable and transparent process should be expected.

Social service agencies funded

Here is the list of organizations funded by the Monroe County Council this week. Planned Parenthood murdered over 1000 babies in Bloomington last year, and All Options has a fund to help pay for those abortions.

Check back tomorrow for CCFL president Scott Tibbs' report on the meeting.

All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center — $3,200

Amethyst House — $3,500

Area 10 Agency on Aging — $1,940

Big Brothers, Big Sisters — $1,500

Bloomington Housing Authority — $1,750

Bloomington PRIDE — $2,760

Bloomington Society of St. Vincent de Paul — $3,830

Boys & Girls Clubs — $4,200

Catholic Charities of Bloomington — $2,820

Community Kitchen — $6,700

Girls Inc. — $3,180

Grace Center, Inc. — $2,600

Hannah Center, Inc. — $2,300

Health Department — $3,500

Hoosier Hills Food Bank — $5,340

Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry — $2,750

Indiana Recovery Alliance — $4,750

Interfaith Winter Shelter — $2,510

Lotus Education & Arts Foundation — $2,600

Middle Way House — $5,300

Monroe County Health Department-Futures Family Planning Clinic — $400

Monroe County Humane Association — $2,110

Monroe County United Ministries — $3,800

Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard — $6,800

My Sister’s Closet — $3,350

New Hope Family Shelter — $4,200

People & Animal Learning Services — $1,620

Planned Parenthood of IN & KY — $2,000

Rhino’s Youth Center — $1,660

Shalom Community Center — $7,400

South Central Community Action Program – Head Start — $2,800

South Central Indiana Housing Opportunities — $2,600

Team First Book — $2,200

The Warehouse — $1,750

Wheeler Center for Men & Center for Women & Children — $3,480

Writing for a Change Foundation of Bloomington, Inc. — $1,800

Planned Parenthood's application for corporate welfare

See Planned Parenthood's application for corporate welfare below:

Planned Parenthood should not get our tax money

Note: CCFL board member Scott Tibbs sent the following letter to the members of the Monroe County Council.

Councilors,

Can we please be done with the lie that abortion is a tiny part of what Planned Parenthood does?

While abortion opponents are celebrating a steep overall drop in abortions statewide, that is not the case in Monroe County. There were 822 abortions in Monroe County in 2015. There were 1,016 abortions in Monroe County in 2016. That is a 23.6% increase. Overall, 194 more babies lost their lives in Monroe County last year than the year before. Furthermore, only 232 of the 1,016 abortions in Monroe County were performed on Monroe County women. Bloomington is the regional abortion mill for all of southern Indiana.

The number of abortions is unprecedented. The largest number we have had since 2001 was 855 abortions in 2008, and 2016 leaves that number in the dust. On average, that is 19.5 abortions every week, just a few blocks south of the county courthouse. It is abundantly clear that abortion is a huge part of what the facility at 421 South College does. Abortion is now more of a part of their business than ever before.

This is why it is so offensive to pro-life taxpayers that you take our money by force and give it to an organization we find morally abominable. We hear a lot about abortion opponents forcing our morality on people, but the ones forcing their morality on others is the Monroe County Council. You decide for us that we will donate to charities of your choosing, regardless of what we think of those charities.

Please stop this madness. Please stop funding Planned Parenthood's operating budget. If you must distribute money to social service agencies, please direct our tax dollars to a more deserving organization that is not considered to be wicked and bloodthirsty by thousands of the constituents who pay your salary and health care benefits. Please show that you are truly pro-choice, rather than pro-abortion.

No corporate welfare for Planned Parenthood!

On Tuesday, July 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the Monroe County Courthouse, the Monroe County Council will vote to give your tax money to Planned Parenthood.

Please attend this meeting and tell the council we do not want to be forced to fund Bloomington's abortion mill!

You can also e-mail the county council.

See the agenda below:

Volunteers needed tomorrow!

Will you please join us for the Fourth of July Parade?

Let's use this event to spread the pro-life message in Bloomington!

We will be in the parking lot between Indiana and Dunn on the south side of Sixth Street.

We need to have people there by 9 a.m.