The desperate attempts by Democrats to ignore or explain away the Planned Parenthood videos have provided us with plenty of excellent examples showcasing just how dedicated the Left is to abortion. However, the latest rhetoric from the Obama administration might top everything else in recent memory to show how extreme their attachment is. From the Huffington Post (I’m reading it so you don’t have to), we see this:

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides monthly food benefits to 45 million Americans, will go dark if Congress fails to pass a law funding government operations after Oct. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program.

“If Congress does not act to avert a lapse in appropriations, then USDA will not have the funding necessary for SNAP benefits in October and will be forced to stop providing benefits within the first several days of October,” a USDA spokesperson said in an email. “Once that occurs, families won’t be able to use these benefits at grocery stores to buy the food their families need.” 

When the government shut down for 16 days in October 2013, the USDA used contingency funds to maintain benefits, but those funds are apparently gone now, according to the USDA and Senate Democrats. Other big safety net programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, would not be affected.

The stakes are high enough as it is, but to help drill in how absurd this approach by Democrats is, let’s take a look at the latest data on funding each receives:

• SNAP: $74.2 billion
• Planned Parenthood: $528.4 million

The two are not even close. To my knowledge Republicans in Congress are more than willing to fund SNAP and the rest of the government. The only thing being asked of obstructionist Democrats, led by President Obama, is that the funding for Planned Parenthood be stricken from the budget. Even if, as they say, none of the organization’s funds go to abortion (which we know is a lie), the videos still provide us with more than enough reason to do so, but Democrats are willing to hold up funding the entire government, including a program that provides 45 million Americans with assistance*, because of their love for abortion.

The greatest irony in the aforementioned Huffington Post piece, though, lies in this quote from Oregon Democratic [mc_name name=’Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M001176′ ]:

“On a week when the Pope is making an historic visit to Washington to remind us all of our moral obligation to care for the poorest and most vulnerable among us, it is shameful that we are even contemplating a politically-driven shutdown that would take food off the tables of millions of children, seniors, and disabled Americans,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in a statement. “It’s time for our colleagues across the aisle to finally get to work and make sure millions of Americans don’t go hungry.”

The irony here is twofold, but let’s start from the top. First of all, though the media seems to be reluctant to say so, the Pope, like his predecessors, is avowedly pro-life, and while he his views on social justice are much more inline with the Left, he would no doubt be revolted to hear about what happens inside Planned Parenthood clinics, if he hasn’t already. The second irony is that Sen. Merkley evidently does not grasp just how far “our moral obligation to care for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.” Who is more vulnerable than the unborn child? In order for children to even make it to the dinner table, they have to be born first!

The Democrats in Congress, along with their allies in the media, are trying to tell the nation that the possible shutdown is driven by cynical Republicans trying to score political points. The shoe, however, is precisely on the other foot. It is the Democrats who continually raise the stakes in these fights to cater to their radical special interests, and they have no problem shutting down the government to ensure that it happens. Weak willed Republican leaders, best embodied by the likes of [mc_name name=’Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’B000589′ ] and [mc_name name=’Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000355′ ], have continually allowed this to happen out of fear for what people might say about them. It’s time to put an end to these shenanigans. Lives are at stake.

*=There are many reasons to discuss reforming or eliminating SNAP at the federal level, but the point here is that the Democrats are more than willing to sacrifice one of their favorite sacred cows to protect seemingly the greatest sacred cow of them all: abortion.