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Students for Life Action (SFLAction) has launched a month-long June campaign pressuring 12 Republican senators to back the House-approved budget bill that defunds Planned Parenthood and major abortion providers.
The campaign aims to integrate the House’s pro-life language into the Senate version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which narrowly passed the House May 22. The Senate is now expected to revise the bill before it reaches the president’s desk in early July.
“Our message to our friends is simple: No matter what your concerns, work to get the House language in the Senate budget. That means cutting off Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion from our healthcare spending in the base text of the bill and for a minimum of 10 years,” SFLAction President Kristan Hawkins said last week. “Yes, there are many issues facing our nation, but don’t throw more than 400,000 babies out with the federal budget bathwater.”
SFLAction said the campaign targets senators reluctant to “set aside differences” and prioritize defunding the abortion providers, with Hawkins describing the list as including both “friends and sometimes foes.”
The 12 GOP senators, with varied records on life issues, include Sens. Shelly Capito, W. Va., Susan Collins, Maine, Ron Johnson, Wis., Mike Lee, Utah, Mitch McConnell, Ky., Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, Rand Paul, Ky., Rick Scott, Fla., Dan Sullivan, Alaska, John Thune, S.D., Thom Tillis, N.C., and Todd Young, Ind.
According to SFLAction, Collins and Murkowski have consistently supported abortion measures, raising concerns about their willingness to back a pro-life budget.
Meanwhile, some Republicans, including Sen. Roger Marshall, Kan., are pushing for deeper spending cuts, seeking to expand the House’s proposed $1.5 trillion in cuts to as much as $6 trillion, according to Fox News.
“Pregnancy is not a disease cured by abortion,” SFLAction’s Hawkins said. “Our friends in the U.S. Senate need to know that pro-life voters will not forgive and forget the continued waste of our resources on Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion.”
Planned Parenthood’s 2023-2024 annual report revealed that the abortion vendor committed 402,200 abortions — up nearly 10,000 from the previous year — while collecting more than $792 million in taxpayer funds.
