Image Credit: Tennessee Right to Life
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Tennessee Eagle Forum is joining with Tennessee Right to Life in urging Metro Nashville City Council members to vote no on a pro-abortion resolution that will give Planned Parenthood $500,000 of taxpayer dollars.
The council postponed a vote on the resolution last month until their October 4th meeting so as to comply with rules for transferring funds. The resolution earmarks grant money of $150,000 towards out-of-state travel expenses for residents who wish to abort unborn children and another $150,000 for “safer sex” supplies. $200,000 is allocated for “comprehensive sex education.”
Funding for the grant is to come from the salaries of Metro Council and the Mayor’s Office staff and from the traffic signal maintenance fund. No consideration has been given to a proposal to give the same type of funding to life-affirming organizations that support parenting or adoption.
The grant is just one of several efforts to circumvent the Human Life Protection Act that makes abortion a felony in Tennessee.
The city of Nashville and Davidson County government created new legislation to offer special tax breaks to businesses that provide compensation for employees to travel out of state for abortions. This new law was signed just days before the statewide ban on abortion went into effect.
Metro Council is also forbidding law enforcement officials from using license plate readers to enforce laws against abortion and a bill sponsored by Councilwoman Emily Benedict aims to provide Davidson County residents with free birth control and family planning counseling through the Metro Public Health Department. These services are currently available through the Health Department but residents are charged for them based on their income.
If this bill is passed, these services could cost about $2.5 million dollars a year if all residents in Davidson County participate. If only a 1,000 residents used the new program, expected costs are around $685,000 per year.
“This is something that I’m putting forward to make sure that if the country doesn’t want there to be abortions, if the state doesn’t want there to be abortions, then the best way to prevent that is to prevent being pregnant in the first place,” said Benedict.
Jesse Turner, President of the Greater Nashville Area Chapter of Tennessee Right to Life, is asking pro-life supporters in Davidson County to express opposition to the resolution that will fund the Planned Parenthood grant with taxpayer money before the October meeting on Tuesday. She also suggests contacting Vice Mayor Jim Schulman (615.584.1082) to ask that he remove the “divisive and controversial” resolution from the Consent Agenda.
Davidson County residents can find their metro council member HERE.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
What’s the point of having laws if Cities can bypass the laws they don’t like and spend more taxpayer money doing it. If Metro City Council takes up this bill, every one of them should be arrested and charged with sedition. They are criminals, plain and simple.