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Following up - No corporate welfare for Planned Parenthood

By Scott Tibbs, August 11, 2014

My most recent letter to the editor was printed in the Herald-Times a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to address some of the things said in the comments section but I am just now getting around to it. So here we go.

htuser posted at 10:57 am on Thu, Jul 17, 2014.

Scott - What makes your opinion the ONLY right opinion? Step back and take a deep breath. I have one (opinion that is) and it is quite different from yours.

That is true - we all have our own opinions. I am not the one forcing my opinion on anyone here. That is being done by the Bloomington City Council, which has for fifteen years forced anti-abortion taxpayers to subsidize Bloomington's abortion "clinic." That objection should be directed to the Bloomington City Council, not to me.

jimshackelford posted at 11:15 am on Thu, Jul 17, 2014.

I think your case is very weak, and therefore must rest on the implied myth that Planned Parenthood does 100 abortions per week, and is there to entrap vulnerable young women.

Where exactly is this response coming from? I did not say anything of the sort in my letter to the editor. (By the way, between 2007 and 2009, Planned Parenthood in Bloomington performed an average of 16.25, 16.44 and 15.73 abortions per week.) There are hundreds of abortions per year in Monroe County, of course. Between 2010 and 2013 there were 809, 731, 811, 753 abortions.

DRM posted at 12:22 pm on Thu, Jul 17, 2014.

The irony here is that Tibbs' constant inflamed rhetoric and contestable claims may provide our local Planned Parenthood's yearly request a comparative advantage in the council's decision making.

This, of course, is a perfect parallel to Councilor Spechler's admission that the decision to subsidize Planned Parenthood is a political decision. The council's job is to distribute a huge sum of money every summer based on what would most benefit the community, not on their perception of the people opposing certain grants.

Furthermore, if the council is actually deciding to fund Planned Parenthood based on their dislike for a loudmouth blogger with no real political influence, that is an incredibly childish and petulant decision-making process that is a real disservice to this community. DRM is Don Moore, husband of Bloomington City Clerk Regina Moore. Given his closeness to the nine Democrats on the City Council and Mayor Kruzan, one would hope he is simply trolling and not actually reflecting what Kruzan and the City Council are actually doing.

Bleeding Red posted at 8:31 am on Thu, Jul 17, 2014.

The vote to distribute funds to PP from the Jack Hopkins account was unanimous as it has been for years. If the local tea party patriots can't field and elect candidates who favor cutting off funds, it's just too freaking bad.

This is a typically petulant and childish response.

"We won the election, nyah nyah nyah!"

It speaks volumes of the arrogance of Leftists who refuse to debate the merits of subsidizing Planned Parenthood and instead gloat about winning the election.

The basis for this childish gloating is not even factually accurate. The vote was not unanimous in 2007, 2008, 2010 or 2011. Furthermore, with a 9-0 Democratic majority in 2012 (the year after the city election) Planned Parenthood's request for funding was denied - as it should have been every year since 1999.

MJE posted at 6:22 pm on Thu, Jul 17, 2014.

I respectfully disagree. His letter is designed to implement his religious values as public policy. That is known as Taliban politics.

Once again, I am not the one forcing my beliefs on anyone here. I am arguing that people who want to fund Planned Parenthood should do so by voluntarily donating their own money instead of forcibly confiscating money from the entire community to give to their favorite political cause. I am the one taking a truly pro-choice position, while the city council is forcing their views on everyone else.

There is simply no justification for continuing to subsidize Planned Parenthood through the city's social services fund - or the county's social services fund, for that matter. PP does not need the money, they are only seeking a political endorsement, and there are many truly local organizations that could use the money much more.

This annual farce needs to stop.