In the US, yet. But it’s not that there is a portion of the taxes paid that is earmarked for direct abortion subsidies. Most taxes go into large, fungible accounts that are spent on a variety of things by the government. For example, Planned Parenthood gets huge federal subsidies and PP performs abortions. Military members have health insurance paid for with taxpayer money and that coverage includes abortions. Medicaid, which is taxpayer funded health care primarily for the poor, covers abortions. There are some limitations as to under what conditions abortions are covered, but they are covered.
Likely, I’d say.
Thank you for this. Overall then, the answer is yes?! The U.S. taxpayers money to some level of expenditure, does get spent, no matter what course it takes, on abortions. So the tax payer’s money ends up as blood money. If I was a U.S. citizen I’d be pretty knarked about that.
Yes, we aren’t happy about it. But to be fair, a lot of taxpayers money goes to things we find morally repugnant. The taxpayers probably spent more on the propaganda campaign to push same-sex marriage in the last year than it gave to cover abortions, for example. We are funding the US prosecution of the Little Sisters of the Poor over the healthcare mandate and we pay for bizarre things like sex-change operations for convicts serving time in our prisons.
Yes, we have one overall federal constitution, and each state has its own constitution. The federal takes precedence over the states’.
A life without contradictions. Without the spaghetti junction crossed roads of hypocrisy.
Submit to the impossible or let the children go hungry. This is what it sounds like. The whole set up sounds repugnant.
Informative post. Thank you. Nice to have info put forward like this as it kind of fits in with the Pope’s visit there. On the last point, why don’t Catholics over there petition for change? Over here, petitioning is all the rage, and it does get results. When Westminster is presented with a petition of one hundred thousand votes, give or take, they stand up and listen. I really think some kind of institutional set-up for Christian voters, and any people who are pro-life, could do with being set up there. All it takes is one to get it going. Especially if those who do are adept with social media technology.Yes, we have one overall federal constitution, and each state has its own constitution. The federal takes precedence over the states’.
It’s tighter than the EU, as we have only one national defense, for example. Although each state has its own ‘national guard,’ which are essentially mini-armies that provide for civil defense and disaster relief in their states. However, they may be nationalized into the U.S. Army in certain situations. For example, the Pennsylvania National Guard is routinely sent to conflicts around the world–Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq, etc. States have mini-air forces, too. For example, Pennsylvania has an Air National Guard. From what I’ve read, air national guard combat pilots are better than U.S. combat pilots because they tend to be older, retired from active duty, and therefore more experience and training.
I assume EU nations can choose to leave the union. That was tried once here–didn’t work out so well.
The bulk of government funding for social services, health services, human services, etc. is from the federal government and is distributed to the states, which then either provide the services directly or pass the funds to county governments, which in turn either provide the services directly or pass the funds to contractors. The rules and regulations that govern the uses of the federal funding are probably thousands and thousands of pages thick. For example, the “manual” that guides the work of social workers in Pennsylvania had been over 900 pages long at one point.
There are some things the federal government can’t do. For example, it can’t set a nationwide minimum age for alcohol consumption. However, the feds can tie an age requirement to highway funding, for example. Since states need the federal transportation money, they comply with the age requirement.
Theoretically, the feds could set regulations for Medicaid (that’s the national health insurer for poor people (mostly)) that specify the money can only be used if states outlaw abortion. Medicaid provides billions and billions of dollars of health insurance. States would find it hard not to comply.
You’re welcome. Petitions may be used for local municipal matters, but have no official bearing whatsoever in national matters. I think most states don’t abide by them, either. Legislators at state and national levels get inundated with letters, emails, and calls from their constituents on every sort of matter. And practically every interest under the sun has an advocacy association / lobbyist whose job it is to meet with legislators to convince, coax, cajole, compel them to vote a particular way.