Scott Tibbs
"All Options" does not need corporate welfare
By Scott Tibbs, June 23, 2021
One of the guidelines for the Bloomington City Council's social services fund is that the funds are meant to be a "one time" investment. "All Options" Pregnancy Resource Center has made a mockery of this by coming back year after year to ask for thousands of dollars to fund its diaper program. Of course, this really is not about diapers. It is about getting a political endorsement from the city council.
"All Options" is a national organization, and reported $1,330,829 of income and $761,989 in spending in its 2019 report - an enormous budget surplus of $568,840. The next year revenue was down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they still reported ending the year with $703,835 in assets. The request for money is not and never was about need. They do not need the money, which could easily go to a truly local organization that truly needed help.
The fact that not one single member of the city council even bothered to address AOPRC's enormous financial resources before giving them taxpayer money proved that, like funding Planned Parenthood, this is not and never was about need. This is about using the tax money entrusted to them to make a pro-abortion political statement. The Bloomington City Council decided to deny money to other organizations in order to fund their own selfish political goals. This is a waste of money.
The reason people object to being forced to fund "All Options" is that they maintain a fund to pay for abortions - a fund that is growing dramatically year after year. They spend six figures to "help" women by paying to have their babies killed. The city council responds to these objections by repeating the cliché that "abortion is legal." But just because something is legal does not mean we need to give taxpayer money to an organization that promotes it and helps fund it.
From All Options' 2019 annual report:
- "Our Hoosier Abortion Fund gave $57,507 in funding to 251 clients in Indiana; a 47% increase in people served since last year!"
From All Options' 2020 annual report:
- "Our Hoosier Abortion Fund pledged $105,064 to help 414 people in Indiana access the abortion care they needed."
We have heard a lot about "unity" over the last few months. But the city council continues to push through divisive corporate welfare to either abortion clinics or abortion-funding "charities" that clearly do not need any assistance from local government. If the council believes in unity and civility, they would stop these handouts to "All Options" and Planned Parenthood.
There is no reason the council cannot find an alternate way to pay for giving diapers to needy families, such as working in cooperation with the township trustees. Alternatives to this handout were never even seriously considered, and will not be until we get a new city council, because this is a political statement rather than an effort to help those families who need it.
Opinion Archives
E-mail Scott
Scott's Links
About the Author
ConservaTibbs.com