Legislation follows Oakland County’s $500,000 Planned Parenthood partnership

LANSING – Representative John Reilly (R-Oakland) introduced legislation today that would prohibit local units of government from furnishing public funds to people and entities that provide abortions.

The bill comes following the decision by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in December to give $500,000 taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in America.

Reilly noted that providing taxpayer dollars for any medical services, let alone abortion, is not the role of local government, and funding abortion is especially inappropriate.

“Regardless of one’s opinion on the legality of abortion, it is immoral to force others – even those who approve of abortion – to pay for it,” Reilly noted. “It is especially bizarre for a local government to do so, since providing any kind of medical care is not the role of local government. For our county to spend half a million of our hard-earned dollars to fund abortion, rather than roads or schools, is an obscene misuse of local dollars.

“Citizens of Oakland County – and any county that might contemplate such taxpayer abuse – deserve this protection.”

House Bill 5612 was referred to the House Committee on Families, Children and Seniors.

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