Friday, February 19, 2010
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

Indiana Rep. Mike Pence at CPAC 2010

(CNSNews.com) – In a speech on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) earned a standing ovation when he said the United States has a moral obligation to the unborn, and that the time has come to stop funding Planned Parenthood with money from pro-life American taxpayers.

“The largest abortion provider in America should not be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title 10,” Pence said. “The time has come to defund any and all funding to Planned Parenthood of America.”

The moment came near the end of Pence’s remarks after he claimed that President Barack Obama and his administration are “managing the decline of America,” rather than reversing that decline.

“And finally, to reverse American decline we should recognize that our present crisis is not merely economic and political, but moral in nature,” Pence said. “We must win back America for the fundamental traditional values of the American people:  the sanctity of life, and the sanctity of marriage.”

“Marriage was ordained by God,” said Pence, “instituted in the law (marriage) is the glue of the American family and the safest harbor to raise children, and it must be defended against he onslaught of the left, in the Congress, in the courts, and if need be, in the Constitution of the United States of America.”

“And we must defend life,” Pence said. “You know, I believe that ending an innocent unborn human life is morally wrong, but it’s also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use it to promote abortion at home and abroad as this government is busy doing every single day.”

According to its 2007-2008 annual report, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America received $349.6 million in taxpayer funds through government grants and contracts.

“We need to restore the historic restrictions on foreign aid in Mexico City,” said Pence, citing the executive order issued by President Ronald Reagan, and reversed by President Barack Obama, that prohibited the use of federal funds to organizations that promoted or provided abortions overseas.

“We need to end all federal funding for destructive embryonic research,” said Pence.  “And the largest abortion provider in America should not be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title 10. The time has come to defund any and all funding to Planned Parenthood of America.”

Pence, a self-described “Christian, family man and Republican, in that order,” railed against the Democrat-controlled Congress and White House for taking the country in the wrong direction — from unbridled federal spending to allowing terrorists to be tried in civilian U.S. courts instead of military tribunals.

Pence’s speech at times took on a campaign-style tone like that of other speakers at the three-day conference, such as Mitt Romney, who is expected to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

“The American people are on the march to win back America,” Pence said.

Organizers estimate that 12,000 people are attending this year’s CPAC, which runs through Saturday, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Help Make A Difference By Sharing These Articles On Facebook, Twitter And Elsewhere:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•