Indiana Looks to Close Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Loophole

Pro-lifers are working to allow Indiana to exclude abortionists from receiving state funding from taxpayers.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court last week on behalf of Americans for Tax Reform and the Susan B. Anthony List in defense of Indiana’s freedom to exclude abortionists from state funding through its Medicaid plan.

“Americans should not be forced to pay for abortions with their hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” said Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Steven H. Aden. “Indiana has sought to close the loophole that allows abortionists to obtain those taxpayer dollars. Any state has the freedom to make such determinations according to federal law. We trust the U.S. Supreme Court will ensure that every state retains the freedom to make this determination for its citizens.”

In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld a lower-court ruling that struck down the Indiana law that closed the loophole in Secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana.

“The Seventh Circuit’s decision radically expands federal supremacy over an area of traditional state authority,” the brief states. “Indiana’s non-subsidization provision … did not impose conditions inconsistent with federal guidelines. The Medicaid Act explicitly reserves state authority to establish provider qualifications.”

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said, “The duty of the government—both state and federal—is to protect the taxpayer, not to soak the taxpayer. Indiana is simply seeking to protect its taxpayers, and both Planned Parenthood and the federal government must respect that.”

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser added, “Encouraged and aided by President Obama, Planned Parenthood has spent much of the last few years demanding taxpayers add millions more to its coffers, citing its so-called focus on women’s health. Yet while government subsidies to Planned Parenthood have reached an all-time high, so too has the number of lives it has ended. Hoosiers—like other taxpayers across the country—are sick and tired of underwriting America’s largest abortion business.”

According to its 2011-2012 annual report, Planned Parenthood performed a record-high 333,964 abortions. The figure translates to nearly 1 million lives lost in the last three years.