The “defunding” word is all over the news these days, with the Republican field trying to outdo each other to get the attention of the national media.

I found this article about Craig Conner, a pastor at First Baptist Church in Panama City, Florida, who lamented about the government taking away money from his paycheck and sending it to Planned Parenthood, this evil organization. He says if we just stopped sending Planned Parenthood money, we’d wipe out the national debt instantly.

Hmmm. Planned Parenthood received about $540 million in government grants in 2013. The national debt is about $18 trillion. It would take about 33,333 years at 540 million, if the debt didn’t grow and there was no interest on it, to pay off the national debt from what we didn’t issue in grants to Planned Parenthood. I wonder how much credibility a pastor has that can’t add simple numbers and present them so they make sense.

In comparison, our country will spend almost $1 trillion on defense and related expenses in 2015. Is Craig Conner not worried about his paychecks being raided to send killer robots to the Middle East and Africa to hunt terrorists and send rockets indiscriminately into civilian neighborhoods, not just killing embryos, but real-life women, children, grandparents, along with all the terrorists? If he was, his argument would even hold water. We could wipe out the national debt in 18 years by defunding defense.

In the case of Planned Parenthood, $540 million is about 45% of the organization’s budget, and none of the government grants are used to fund abortions. Yet, the organization is vilified for its work and its role in preventative female health care and human reproductive rights.

I want the politicians to stay out of our health care, out of our reproductive decisions and, please, out of our bedrooms. Fortunately, I think, our country has come around this bend, and the more the candidates salivate over this stuff, the less electable they all become.