Sen. Vitter proposes abortion bills to mark 'March for Life' rally

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on Thursday proposed several abortion bills to mark Friday's "March for Life" rally in Washington, D.C., including one that would prevent taxpayer money from going to groups like Planned Parenthood that perform abortions.

"Every life matters, so let's show that we mean it," Vitter said in a Friday op-ed with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). "Let's do all that we can to help build a culture that respects the right to life as the central human rights issue of this generation.

"A true end to taxpayer funding of abortion is a great place to start."

Vitter's new bill blocking federal funds to abortion providers is a Senate companion to a bill Blackburn has already introduced. The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, S. 137, takes direct aim at Planned Parenthood, which abortion opponents say unjustly uses fungible public funds to perform abortions.

"Every 94 seconds Planned Parenthood performs an abortion and in that amount of time they take in over $1,600 in federal taxpayer money," Blackburn said Friday. "I look forward to working with Senator Vitter to hold Planned Parenthood accountable, clean up the Title X grant program, and help end taxpayer funding for abortion."

Vitter's bill was co-sponsored by Sens. John Boozman (R-Ark.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), and James Risch (R-Idaho).

Vitter also proposed a bill prohibiting abortions due to gender preference, a practice that Vitter said is morally objectionable and should be banned.

"It's flat out morally wrong to assign different values to unborn babies' lives based on gender, but believe it or not, it happens," Vitter said. "We should have zero tolerance for this kind of discrimination."

Democrats have repeatedly criticized Republicans for their aggressive push to limit abortion rights, and said that push has hurt them in recent elections. But Vitter said today's march in Washington, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people, shows the GOP is helping to change people's minds about abortion.

"This movement is growing and gaining momentum every year, and we're changing hearts and minds around Louisiana and across the country," he said. "I'm proud that Louisiana was recently recognized as the number one pro-life state in the country, but we still have a long way to go.

"With the persistent witness of pro-life folks — including many, many young people — I'm confident that we will be successful."

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