by Deana Bass Williams
One of the chief complaints levied by the pro-abortion community about pro-lifers is their belief that the life community cares about controlling women, not helping children. They assert that we abandon children to a life of poverty and hopelessness once they are born. Such criticisms were levied at me during a recent appearance on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
As I attempted to establish GOP support for life from the womb to the tomb by pointing out the funding appropriated for community health centers, I was shut down at every turn. So exacting and passionate were my critics that I actually began to doubt what I knew to be true. Republicans have consistently voted to support community health centers and crisis pregnancy centers.
The funding chart for community health centers shows a consistent increase. Even during Republican-held Congresses and when a Republican was in the White House.
Former Oregon Rep. Greg Walden was so troubled by the misrepresentation of GOP support that he penned an op-ed, "Setting the Record Straight on Community Health Centers." Then, as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he celebrated President Trump's signature on the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that would help 9 million children and pregnant women who rely on it.
And as for the votes for community health centers, Walden points out that from the committee votes to the floor votes, Democrats "repeatedly moved to delay consideration of bipartisan legislation to extend these vital programs in the first place. And ultimately, the majority of Democrats voted against funding CHIP and community health centers on the House floor at every turn, while Republican majorities carried every vote to passage."
It's easy to check. At JustReadTheDamnBill.com, you can search for the congressional record and, more importantly, read the legislation being considered. Finally, if I'm painting far too rosy a picture of GOP support, Health Centers Then & Now features a timeline of the history of community health centers, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Indeed, Republicans have long advocated for defunding Planned Parenthood. However, I, like many Republicans, do not consider Planned Parenthood a community center. For all of the condoms and counseling offered by Planned Parenthood, it makes the lion's share of its revenue off of the extermination of black babies. Planned Parenthood is a billion-dollar death center. If you value life, you support community health centers and crisis pregnancy centers, not Planned Parenthood.
With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, support for crisis pregnancy centers has increased. For example, earlier this month, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee proposed $100 million in funding for crisis pregnancy centers in the state. With the overturn of Roe V. Wade, he calls it a "moral obligation" to support women and children. Even though the standard criticism is that Republicans do not support women who decide not to abort their child, increased funding for crisis pregnancy centers sparked criticism from pro-abortion groups.
The reality for me and the Republicans in my life is that we do support life from the womb to the tomb. This is evidenced by how we spend our sweat and treasure and how we instruct our elected officials to use the government's purse.
We do not support measures and organizations like Planned Parenthood that liberals believe are necessary. However, we support measures that improve lives and have a track record of working.
As we look at measures that help children, we know that low-income and minority families were the most devastated by the school closings from the global pandemic. Republican governors led nineteen of the top 20 states to empower families and support kids' mental health by getting back to in-person learning. The RNC reports that 13 of the top 15 states with the lowest unemployment rate and 9 of the top 10 states with the best post-pandemic job recovery are led by Republican governors. The RNC may be biased, but the numbers do not lie.
Because I believe in diversity of thought in the marketplace, I thank Roland Martin for the invitation to be part of his State of the Union coverage. I’m always willing to engage in discourse to stand for life from the womb to the tomb. My hope is that the discourse is civil.
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Deana Bass Williams is co-founder of Bass Public Affairs, co-host of Policy & Pound Cake and co-author of Prayer & Pound Cake.