San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn tried on Tuesday to give taxpayer money to an organization that teaches pro-life doctrine to children, but his attempt was met with a wall of silence.

Horn tried to convince his fellow board members to approve a grant for Life Perspectives, which has developed several programs such as AbortionChangesYou.com. The online resource helps women who recently had an abortion,. but some of their programs promote pro-life agendas.

County attorneys decided the original grant proposal could not be granted because it is illegal to give taxpayer money to faith-based or religious organizations. The failed grant was first reported by 10News and City Beat.

Horn renewed the grant application to make sure it met the county's legal standards. Several people still opposed the grant and spoke during the comment portion of the hearing. Those who spoke included a campaign consultant for Steve Gronke, Horn's opponent in the upcoming election. Steve Whitburn, County Supervisor Ron Roberts' opponent, also opposed the grant.

"This is shady at best and illegal and unconstitutional at worst," said Whitburn.

Horn said his political adversaries are using the grant to springboard their own campaigns.

"I think the merits of this particular grant are really not what this witch-hunt is all about," Horn said.

Horn made a motion to approve the grant but the rest of the board sat silently for several seconds. The motion died and there was no vote.

After the meeting, Horn released a statement that said: "Life Perspectives was made a scapegoat and sacrificed on the altar of negative campaigning... there hasn't been a word of protest until our opponents became desperate."