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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2016

Pro-Life Leaders Re-Launch Campaign to Defund Planned Parenthood in FL
Demands Gov. Rick Scott Utilize Executive Action Immediately

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), led by President and General Counsel John Stemberger, has announced they will be re-launching a statewide campaign – on behalf of thousands of pro-life Floridians – calling on Gov. Rick Scott (R) to fully defund Planned Parenthood in the state, and redirect those funds to the more than 600 community health clinics in Florida.

The campaign – consisting of sustained grassroots and media efforts – will urge, and if necessary, demand that Governor Scott entirely strip Planned Parenthood of all state public funding sources within his influence, particularly the Medicaid contract, which makes up a substantial portion of Planned Parenthood’s taxpayers’ support.

FFPC is asking Governor Scott to take immediate executive action on the following two things:
1) Terminate Florida’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood.
2) Terminate the subcontracts of Title X funds with Broward and Collier County.

“We are now reenergizing our effort to lobby Governor Scott and continue to send him the message that he has a moral duty to defund the largest abortion provider in America and send those funds to other qualified health care providers, said John Stemberger, President of the Florida Family Policy Council. “Just last two weeks Governor Sam Brownback defund Planned Parenthood in the state of Kansas and a Federal Judge in Utah upheld Utah’s Governor decision and authority to defund Planned Parenthood.”

“Governor Rick Scott has the clear legal authority to terminate Medicaid contracts with unqualified providers of services, and he now also has a moral, ethical and fiscal duty to do so given Planned Parenthood’s egregious conduct which includes waste, abuse, and potential fraud,” Mr. Stemberger added. “In both his gubernatorial campaigns, Rick Scott campaigned that if elected he would be a pro-life Governor. We would now like him to take action like a pro-life Governor. The pro-life and pro-family community that supported the governor in the last two election must have their voices heard on the urgency of this matter, and we hope this rally will finally force the governor to listen.”

The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, is one of 38 other state based policy councils around the country which are associated with Focus on the Family. Many of these organizations are the leading pro-life, pro-family organizations in their respective states.

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Article originally published in the Sun-Sentinel’s Opinion Section | Wednesday, December 9, 2015 | 9:44pm

Due to the windfall following the release of videos exposing Planned Parenthood‘s egregious behavior, Gov. Rick Scott continues to make excuses for his lack of action on stopping the flow of state taxpayer money to the organization in Florida. And both he and Politifact has fallen back to the excuse that because no court has yet formally “found” Planned Parenthood “guilty” of the sale of human tissue, there’s no reason to act.

Is this leadership? Is this what pro-life Floridians expected of the governor they twice went to the polls to support?

Six other states have completely rejected any funding for Planned Parenthood, including revoking Medicaid funds. Scott has the legal authority to terminate Medicaid contracts with unqualified providers of services, and he now also has a moral, ethical and fiscal duty to do so given Planned Parenthood’s egregious conduct which includes waste, abuse and potential fraud,

Florida’s Planned Parenthood affiliates have not been guilty of all the apparent crimes of Planned Parenthood clinics in other states. However, there is a clear commonality of practice among clinics that ties them together, and the potential for abuse anywhere is rampant.

Regardless of whether a court ultimately rules against Planned Parenthood with regards to its willingness to sell baby body parts to tissue procurement companies, the facts and outstanding questions surrounding the group’s recorded actions should be noted.

Some defenders of the organization claim “Planned Parenthood said discussions of payments were only about recouping costs, not making a profit.” But if this were true, why wouldn’t Planned Parenthood act like an innocent party and outline precisely what its actual costs are with regards to transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control and storage. The fact is, most procurement companies have staff inside clinics who handle all aspects of obtaining the baby body parts for sale.

It also begs the question of why the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, admitted in her letter to Congress in August that some of her affiliates charge between $45-55 per specimen, and others charge $60 per specimen. If it’s not payment for actual costs, it’s profit. And that violates federal law.

The organization’s leaders also have yet to address other important questions the American people deserve to know, including why Planned Parenthood, as Richards also admits, sometimes alters abortion procedures without the woman’s consent to procure better fetal body parts, or allows infants to be born alive to then harvest their organs.

Whether or not Planned Parenthood claims to “maintain its policy is to report all suspected instances of sexual abuse,” on at least 12 occasions in states across the country, they have failed to report the sexual abuse, including rape, of young girls, and has instead performed abortions on these little girls to then return them back to their abusers. This is in direct violation of state laws requiring an organization like Planned Parenthood to report apparent sexual abuse of minors.

There are examples of Planned Parenthood’s continued failure to prioritize the health and safety of women and comply with state and federal law, not to mention its continued pattern and practice of engaging in waste, abuse and potential fraud of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. For any one of these reasons, Planned Parenthood should no longer be eligible to receive taxpayer dollars.

Most news outlets, and especially Politifact, have failed to examine any of Scott’s numerous false public claims to the effect that he lacked the legal authority to terminate Medicaid contacts because these were governed by federal law.

States considering termination of Medicaid Provider Agreements with Planned Parenthood are well within their legal rights. They are not required to qualify providers that are under investigation, that violate federal or state law or that act unethically. Indeed, according to the HHS Office of Inspector General, more than 9,000 providers have been excluded as Medicaid providers over the last two decades.

In the end, facts are facts. And the fact that Planned Parenthood has a rancid history is true. And no organization with such a history, and that is currently under investigation at every level should receive a dime from Florida taxpayers.

So let me restate to Gov. Scott: Do you stand for women’s health, or do you side with the money-hungry posers who put up the facade of caring about women’s health but time and again engage in a pattern and practice of behavior which would disqualify any other health care provider?

John Stemberger is president of the Florida Family Policy Council.
Copyright © 2015, Sun Sentinel

Article PDF Available HERE

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We recently celebrated our 10th anniversary as an organization and produced this dynamic history video and beautiful anniversary brochure to give our supporters a concise overview of our accomplishments and achievements over the past decade. Thank you for your interest in our work and we would welcome your financial support by making an online contribution here.

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CONTACT: Ryan Hughes
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
703-739-5920/800-536-5920
rhughes@sbpublicaffairs.com

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Today, the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC) announced that a movement of pro-life Floridians, represented and led by FFPC President John Stemberger and co-sponsored by the Students for Life’s Defund Planned Parenthood Bus Tour will hold a major rally at the Florida State Capitol. The rally, which will be held on Monday, December 7th, will bring together pro-life Floridians from all over the state to demand action from Governor Rick Scott by ending the state’s Medicaid and Title X contracts with Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.

The capitol rally heralds the next step in a statewide and national campaign to raise awareness of an issue that has received national attention. Mr. Stemberger sent a letter requesting action to the Governor and his office.

“Governor Rick Scott has the clear legal authority to terminate Medicaid contracts with unqualified providers of services, and he now also has a moral, ethical and fiscal duty to do so given Planned Parenthood’s egregious conduct which includes waste, abuse, and potential fraud,” said Stemberger. “In both his gubernatorial campaigns, Rick Scott campaigned that if elected he would be a pro-life Governor. We would now like him to take action like a pro-life Governor. The pro-life and pro-family community that supported the governor in the last two election must have their voices heard on the urgency of this matter, and we hope this rally will finally force the governor to listen.”

Details of the capitol rally are as follows:

WHO: Pro-Life Taxpayers and National Speakers (TBA)

WHAT: Florida Taxpayer Rally to Defund Planned Parenthood

WHEN: Monday, December 7, 2015 | Rally: 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET |

Pre-Rally with Music and Snacks from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET

WHERE: Florida State Capitol, 400 S Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399

HOW: Carpool with friends or FREE coach bus service from Miami and Orlando

(Contact info@FLFamily.org for departure times and locations)

The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, is one of 38 other state based policy councils around the country which are associated with Focus on the Family. Many of these organizations are the leading pro-life, pro-family organizations in their respective states.

For more information or to arrange an interview with John Stemberger, President of the Florida Family Policy Council, please contact Ryan Hughes with Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at rhughes@sbpublicaffairs.com or (703) 739-5920.

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Colorado Becomes the Latest State to Consider Defunding Planned Parenthood
Pro-Life Floridians Still Waiting for Leadership from Governor Rick Scott

TALLAHASSEE, FL – As Colorado becomes the latest state to consider ending taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), led by President and General Counsel John Stemberger, is urging Governor Rick Scott to follow the lead of Pro-Life Governors across the country by blocking state and federal taxpayer funds from going to Planned Parenthood in the State of Florida.

“How bad does it need to get before Governor Rick Scott realizes that he is wasting our taxpayer funds on a scandal ridden racketeering scheme?” questioned John Stemberger, President and General Counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council. “Scott has flat out refused to take any action to defund Planned Parenthood in Florida as six other states have done and instead has given four excuses which have been addressed and refuted here.”

FFPC is asking Governor Scott to take immediate executive action on the following two things:

1) Terminate Florida’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood.
2) Terminate the subcontracts of Title X funds with Broward and Collier County.

Mr. Stemberger sent a letter requesting action to the Governor and his office.

“Governor Rick Scott has the clear legal authority to terminate Medicaid contracts with unqualified providers of services, and he now also has a moral, ethical and fiscal duty to do so given Planned Parenthood’s egregious conduct which includes waste, abuse, and potential fraud,” said Stemberger. “In both his gubernatorial campaigns, Rick Scott campaigned that if elected he would be a pro-life Governor. We would now like him to take action like a pro-life Governor.”

The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, is one of 38 other state based policy councils around the country which are associated with Focus on the Family. Many of these organizations are the leading pro-life, pro-family organizations in their respective states.

For more information or to arrange an interview with John Stemberger, please contact Ryan Hughes with Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at rhughes@sbpublicaffairs.com or (703) 739-5920.

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