Setting the Record Straight
by Staff
July 27, 2010
LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia, (christiansunite.com) -- Georgia Right to Life PAC (GRTL PAC) is proud to support Nathan Deal in his bid to become the next Governor of Georgia. He firmly opposes abortions except in cases where the life of the mother is at stake. Regarding his 1993 vote appropriating funds for fetal tissue research and Planned Parenthood, Mr. Deal stated, "a lot of us were not fully convinced of who Planned Parenthood was and what they were doing with their money," according to Access NorthGa.com's article entitled, Abortion Divides GA. GOP Gubernatorial Rivals (7/25/2010).Over the years, Mr. Deal's opposition to Planned Parenthood has increased. Mr. Deal says, "...it was a personal change of opinion. It was one that I had prayerful thought about for a very long period of time..." He had discussions with his "minister, friends who are religious advisors and friends with the pro-life community."
Since 1997, Nathan Deal has had a strong pro-life record as evidenced by a rating of 90% and above from National Right to Life (NRLC) and, since 2001, he has received a rating of 100% from NRLC. Georgia Right to Life welcomes converts like Mr. Deal to the pro-life position just as it welcomed Zell Miller & Ronald Reagan.
Karen Handel says she does not support the mission of Planned Parenthood but as the Fulton County Commission Chair she approved over $1.2 million in funding for the organization over 2005, 2006 and 2007. During the March 16, 2005 meeting, the Fulton County Commission discussed five funding requests for various "services" provided to the county. They ranged from providing concrete, to monitoring storm drains, trash disposal and fence repair. There was sharp debate on the issue of trash disposal, but sadly Chair Handel had nothing to say regarding the $425,568 (one of three installments) of funding to Planned Parenthood which was item number two on the agenda. Item 2 elicited no debate.
She approved the contract that states, "Vendor [Planned Parenthood] is recognized nationally for providing excellent, culturally appropriate reproductive health services to women and teens." As many pro-lifers know, "culturally appropriate reproductive health services" defined by Planned Parenthood includes abortion referrals and services.
When her approval of the Planned Parenthood funding was discovered, she backpedaled by stating the Planned Parenthood clinics would have received the funding anyway because, according to KarenHandel.com, it was a "pass-through grant from Congress..." If that is the case, why not vote "no" to support pro-life principles?
The same $1.2 million dollars that Karen Handel used to fund Planned Parenthood could have been distributed to other Title X clinics across the state of Georgia that provide the same "reproductive health" services as Planned Parenthood, except these clinics neither provide nor profit from abortion services.
Nathan Deal took responsibility for his vote 17 years ago, described his change of heart and has been a staunch supporter of the sanctity of life ever since.
"We need a true conservative as the Governor of Georgia who is willing to say "no" to the federal government, stand on principle and take responsibility," states Nancy Stith, the Executive Director of the GRTL. "Nathan Deal has demonstrated that he is the candidate for Governor of Georgia who is able to do just that."
Georgia Right to Life (www.grtl.org) promotes respect and effective legal protection for all human life from its earliest biological beginning through natural death. GRTL is one of the numbers of organizations that have adopted Personhood ( www.personhood.net) as the most effective pro-life strategy for the 21st century.
