This week, Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), represented by Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), joined Pro-Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Right to Life in issuing a letter to Governor Evers demanding that he explain the legal basis for the two grants he has given to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

The funds for the grants, totaling $2.4 million for Planned Parenthood alone, have come from a couple of COVID-19 federal relief programs. The state legislature has passed several bills that would have directed at least some of the funds, but the governor has vetoed all of them.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin received $1.4 million from the “COVID-19 Pandemic Response Nonprofit Grant Program” and then received an additional $1 million last month from the “Equitable Recovery Grant Program.” Both programs were concocted by the governor, without legislative approval or permission.

WILL attorneys assert that Governor Evers has no authority to create grant programs, has disregarded appropriate department rulemaking to govern the distribution of the funds, and has violated state law that prohibits federal funds being given as a grant to pregnancy programs that promote, refer for, or perform abortions.

WFA president, Julaine Appling, commented on the governor’s actions:

“The people of Wisconsin deserve a full explanation of the legal authority Governor Evers is using to justify his largesse to Wisconsin’s largest abortion provider. This is the peoples’ tax dollars.  Some might consider what the governor has done as a kind of ‘quid pro quo’ since Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin spent $700,000 to help get the governor elected in 2018.

“This isn’t the first time the governor has acted with questionable authority. Two years ago, he unilaterally extended an emergency declaration that exceeded the 60-day statutory limit. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ultimately stopped that power grab.

“In this instance, the Governor is giving our hard-earned tax dollars to an organization whose number-one funding source is the killing of unborn babies. Through our elected officials in recent years, ‘we the people’ have made it clear we don’t want public funds to support abortion in any way; and state laws have been put in place to stop that in many instances.

“Unless Governor Evers has a solid legal basis for these grant programs and the distribution of these millions to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, he is apparently just fine with taking the law into his own hands. The voters may have something to say about that this fall.”

The letter sent to Governor Evers is available HERE.

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