The House of Representatives passed a $2 trillion emergency relief package Friday that contained several pro-life protections.
The relief package, the CARES Act, passed the House on Friday afternoon after passing the Senate 96-0 on Wednesday night. President Donald Trump announced Friday afternoon that he had signed the bill — a bill that will “deliver urgently-needed relief for our nation’s families, workers, and businesses.”
Senate Republicans won several pro-life protections in the CARES Act that ensured federal funding will not be used to pay for abortions. These protections include disqualifying Planned Parenthood from receiving aid, ensuring that health care spending in the bill is covered by Hyde Amendment protections, and extending the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program — a program that teaches abstinence until marriage.
“Republicans won critical pro-life protections in this relief package, despite a last-minute attempt by Democrats to make Planned Parenthood eligible for disaster-relief funding,” Sen. Tom Cotton told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday.
He added: “This is a bill about saving lives. No part of it should be abused to end lives.” (RELATED: Louisiana Department Of Health Refuses To Specify If Abortions Are Banned)
I just signed the CARES Act, the single biggest economic relief package in American History – twice as large as any relief bill ever enacted. At $2.2 Trillion Dollars, this bill will deliver urgently-needed relief for our nation’s families, workers, and businesses. #CARESAct???????? https://t.co/0WnTNFZPZD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
The pro-life Susan B. Anthony List spoke out in a statement following the passage of the act.
“We are thankful to President Trump and our pro-life Congressional leaders for ensuring the CARES Act includes vital pro-life protections to ensure that these massive funding streams cannot be used as slush funds for the big abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood,” SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement.
Dannenfelser said that despite the coronavirus crisis, the abortion industry “refuses to stop its abortion enterprise, using up precious personal protective equipment on elective abortions and unashamedly promoting dangerous surgical and chemical abortions.”
“They are preying upon the anxieties and fears of women and families,” she said.
Dannenfelser added: “We thank elected officials across the country who refuse to give them a free pass and are holding them accountable. Their shameful actions demonstrate why they don’t deserve a dime in the CARES Act, given that they truly don’t care.”
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