Texas House voted to defund Planned Parenthood and send $20 million to pregnancy centers.
The Texas House passed a two-year budget Thursday that would cut off funding to abortion groups and increase support for pregnant and parenting families.
The budget passed in a 131-16 vote, with the two pro-life amendments, and now moves to the state Senate for consideration, according to the Texas Tribune.
Texas lawmakers and pro-life advocates have been working for years to stop taxpayer funding from flowing to abortion groups like Planned Parenthood. The legislature voted in 2015 to prohibit Medicaid funding to abortion groups; however, the measure currently is blocked by a court order.
There often are multiple funding streams from which taxpayer dollars flow to Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups. Finding and cutting off all of the streams can be a long process.
The newly proposed Texas budget would block that additional funding. According to Texas Right to Life, there were several “hidden streams” in the 2016 Texas budget that gave money to abortion groups, including through the Health and Human Services Commission, Attorney General and Texas Comptroller. The funds added up to more than $500,000.
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