Apr 20, 2018 by Alyssa Duvall
This Man Is Refusing To Pay Taxes Until Planned Parenthood Is Defunded, And He's Winning
Michael Bowman, a 53-year-old Christian and contract engineer in Oregon, opposes taxpayer funding of abortion just like the majority of Americans. However, unlike most Americans, he's putting a stop to his financial contribution to Planned Parenthood by refusing to file or pay taxes. This battle, which he's waged against the IRS since 1999, is one that he's winning—so far.
"I'm not a tax protester. I love my country,” he told The Oregoniannewspaper. “I have a duty to my country. I have a duty to my conscience.”
The IRS has warned Bowman several times from 2002 to 2014, and in 2012 the Oregon Department of Revenue began garnishing money from his bank account. After that, he simply started cashing out his paychecks and leaving the account with only a minimum balance.
Bowman's move, according to federal prosecutors, essentially constituted “remov[ing] his income from the reach of taxing authorities." It earned him a hefty felony tax evasion charge in the amount of $356,857, and four misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file tax returns to boot.
Matthew Schindler, his attorney, argued that Bowman's complete transparency at each step—from disclosing all of his paychecks to cashing them at his own bank under his own name—rendered the evasion charge utterly laughable. "Like a player collapsing as they lose Twister, the government has reached too far forward and stretched way too far back,'' Schindler said in his motion to dismiss the charges.
In a massive court victory last week, Bowman found favor with US District Judge Michael Mosman who ruled that the feds failed to demonstrate any attempt of his to conceal income. While Bowman won this battle, he has yet to win the war and federal prosecutors are free to re-introduce the charge in the future.
Although federal law prohibits federal funding for Planned Parenthood to be spent directly on abortions, the massive nonprofit receives more than $500 million per year from the federal government which facilitates the growth of their reach and influence and frees up more revenue from other sources to be used for abortions. Every dollar given by the taxpayer offsets every dollar Planned Parenthood would pull from its own pocket to fund abortion services.
In a Tuesday interview with CBN News, Bowman explained his stance and why his actions really aren't so radical.
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"First, I would love to pay taxes so as to have a normal life, however, our government is using the tax dollars to fund Planned Parenthood; which commits abortions - the death of the innocent," Bowman said. “Apparently, a woman has the right to choose, but evidently, I do not.”
Bowman also took the interview as an opportunity to refute the common argument that American citizen has to pay taxes for things they may not support, such as war: “You see, the Constitution grants certain abilities to the government, e.g. funding the military, but killing children is not a Constitutional backed, compelling interest of the government by any stretch of the imagination."
Bowman isn't an unreasonable man, according to the interview, and even has an idea or two for how taxpayers who do want to support Planned Parenthood can do so: “All the government has to do is put a check box on the tax forms that says check here to support Planned Parenthood, and write in your donation amount. Then, just like any church or charity, Planned Parenthood will be funded by those that have no problem with it, and the 150 million people like me that are pro-life, can pay their taxes and live knowing we kept our conscience clean.”
Bowman concluded that he will never again voluntarily support the government while it continues to support the abortion industry:
“My effort [is] about standing up, standing firm for my Constitutional rights, and getting the government to honor title 42 Chapter 21.b The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, so that I may live a peaceful life, and in the end face God, and hopefully have Him say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant!"
https://hellochristian.com/11388-refusing-pay-taxes-michael-bowman-oregon-taxpayer-funding-planned-parenthood-abortion-american-irs?
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