GOP looks to block federal funds to schools offering abortion services

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) and dozens of other Republicans proposed legislation on Wednesday that would deny federal funding to public schools that offer students abortion services through third party health providers.

"Our school health centers should be a place of healing and education for students," Neugebauer said this week. "They shouldn't be used as a tool to advocate for abortion, and certainly not with federal taxpayer dollars."

Neugebauer and his 43 GOP cosponsors argue that school districts in a handful of states, including California and New York, are partnering with Planned Parenthood to provide health services to students. Sponsors of the bill argue that Planned Parenthood is already the largest abortion provider in the country, and that federal education funds should not be sent to schools that enter into these partnerships.

"I was alarmed to learn that they are setting up clinics in public high schools," Neugebauer said of Planned Parenthood. "I'm very concerned that these centers will encourage pregnant students to seek abortions at nearby abortion clinics with little or no parental involvement."

His bill is the Protecting Life in Funding Education (PRO-LIFE) Act, H.R. 1122.

Under the bill, school districts that partner with any third party health services provider would be denied access to federal education funds, unless the health centers certify that they won't offer students abortions or abortion-related services, such as referrals for abortions.

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