Letter from Cardinal DiNardo to Congress on Defunding Planned Parenthood (2011)

Letter from Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Chairman, USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities to U.S. House of Representatives on Defunding Planned Parenthood, April 13, 2011

"In recent weeks the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has written to Congress about the current appropriations process, expressing our conviction that needed reductions in federal spending should not be made to the detriment of the poor and vulnerable who are most in need of society's help (see February 14 and March 4 letters at www.usccb.org/sdv.,:p/nationa1/). 

As Chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities, I commend these letters to your attention again. In that broader context, I want to comment further on decisions Congress must make about respect for human life at its earliest and most defenseless stage.

The final Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2011 (R.R. 1473) will restore the longstanding ban on use of congressionally appropriated funds for elective abortions in the District of Columbia. This is very welcome and long overdue. Nowhere else does any annual appropriations bill allow appropriated funds to be used for such abortions."

Cardinal-DiNardo-Letter-on-Defunding-Planned-Parenthood_0.pdf