The Kansas Catholic Conference has strongly condemned the state health department’s decision to defund an initiative for crisis pregnancy centers – only months after Gov. Mark Parkinson used his veto power to continue handing $300,000 in taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood annually.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, tasked with making deep budget cuts because of tight economic conditions, chose to pull funding for the Senator Stan Clark Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative in fiscal year 2010. They had previously approved $295,000 for the program in 2009 and $345,000 for 2010 according to state records.
Bishops Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Ronald Gilmore of Dodge City, Paul Coakley of Salina, and Michael Jackels of Wichita said the move undermined the intentions of the Kansas legislature, and would "have grave repercussions for some of the most vulnerable among us, namely women facing crisis pregnancies and their unborn children."
"We understand that you have been required to make budget cuts beyond what was approved by the Legislature, and realize that this is no easy task," wrote the Kansas bishops in a letter addressed to Gov. Parkinson. "However, eliminating the Senator Stan Clark Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative is clearly contrary to the will of the Legislature and will do little to balance the budget."
When examining the budget earlier this year, the bishops pointed out, Kansas legislators on both sides of the aisle expressed eagerness to ensure that the pregnancy initiative would be funded through the next fiscal cycle. Although the initiative took a disproportionate hit in the last budget cut, they said, funding for the initiative received no opposition when put to the Senate floor in a voice vote.
"Despite the cuts to the program in both the 2009 and 2010 budgets, we were confident that the Senator Stan Clark Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative would be able to continue serving women in Kansas facing difficult pregnancies," wrote the bishops. They said the choice to eliminate the program was "clearly contrary to the will of the Legislature and will do little to balance the budget."
"Yet the relatively small amount of funding commanded by this program has very large consequences for women in Kansas," said the prelates, "and its absence will send a disturbing message about our priorities as a state, especially when taken in concert with your recent veto of a budget amendment restricting public funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider."
When both the Kansas House and Senate passed a bill in May to de-fund Planned Parenthood, Gov. Paterson vetoed the measure, allowing about $300,000 in federal grants to continue funding the abortion provider.
Parkinson is the successor of Kathleen Sebelius, whom President Obama tapped to head up the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Sebelius, known for maintaining political ties with Kansas late-term abortionist George Tiller, consistently vetoed even minor abortion-restricting measures that reached her desk.
"Had he (Parkinson) defunded Planned Parenthood too, I’d let it go, I’d be mute," Mark Gietzen, the president of the Kansas Coalition for Life, told the Wichita Eagle this week.
"It’s an utter sham when you have a governor veto the will of the people and turn around and cut funding for what the people wanted," he said. "That’s absolutely outrageous."
The governor’s office issued a statement attempting to distance Parkinson from the decision, stating that "In most cases, the governor did not identify specific programs or initiatives that he recommended for reductions." But Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue criticized the governor for not taking responsibility for approving the budget cuts.
"Parkinson doesn’t even have the courage to own up to his decision to approve the defunding recommendation. Without his approval, the cuts in programs that aid needy women would not have been made," said Sullenger. "He has taken it upon himself to defy the will of the people of this state and placed vulnerable women at risk. I don’t know how that man can sleep at night."
