Westerman Co-Sponsors Pro-Life Bills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON – Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-Hot Springs) today issued the following statement on his co-sponsorship of H.R. 36, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Act, and H.R. 217, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act:

"Co-sponsorship of these bills continues a fight I began in the Arkansas General Assembly to protect the lives of unborn children. The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act prohibits federal grants through Title X to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States, while H.R. 36, Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, is similar to legislation I co-sponsored in the Arkansas House and led the fight to override a governor's veto to make it law.

"I believe that it is my duty to protect those that cannot defend themselves."

According to a 2010 Government Accountability Office report, taxpayers subsidized 45 percent of Planned Parenthood's budget, receiving a record $514 million in funding.

Of Planned Parenthood pregnancy services offered, 92 percent are abortions, while prenatal care and adoptions make up the remaining eight percent of services offered by the organization.

About Rep. Bruce Westerman

A lifelong resident of Garland County, Congressman Bruce Westerman was elected the 20th representative of Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District in 2014. In the 114th Congress, he will serve on the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on the Budget, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Elected twice to serve in the Arkansas General Assembly, Westerman was Arkansas's first Republican House Majority Leader since Reconstruction, and an architect of the House Republican SIMPLE Plan which led to the 2013 Republican takeover of the Arkansas House of Representatives.

An engineer and forester for 22 years at Mid-South Engineering in Hot Springs, Westerman is a registered professional engineer and forester in. He holds a Master of Forestry degree (2001) from Yale University. In 2013, he was named Engineer of the Year by the Arkansas Society of Professional of Engineers.

Westerman graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1990. While at Arkansas, Westerman was a four-year walk-on member of the Razorback Football Team. He received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2005 and the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012.

Westerman is a former board member of the Fountain Lake School District and is a deacon at Walnut Valley Baptist Church. He lives in Hot Springs with his wife Sharon and their four children.

For more information on Rep. Bruce Westerman, please visit https://westerman.house.gov and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RepWesterman and Facebook at https://facebook.com/RepWesterman.

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