BREAKING NEWS: House Approves Planned Parenthood Defunding

 

Abortion rights supporters rally in opposition to proposed federal funding cuts aimed at family planning and restrictions that would prohibit funding for private organizations that use their own funds to facilitate abortions, in Philadelphia, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011. The rally was organized by Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

 

Early this morning the House of Representatives approved $60 billion in cuts in federal spending, including blocking all federal Title X funding for Planned Parenthood. And that's causing a bit of an uproar. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said, “The time has come to respect the wishes of the majority of Americans who adamantly oppose using taxpayer dollars for abortions.” However, by law no Title X funds can be used for abortion. Instead, it would make things like free HIV testing, breast and cervical cancer screening, family planning and prenatal care out of reach for many Americans.

Many politicians spoke out against the House Republican's "attack" on Planned Parenthood, including California Rep. Jackie Speier, who took to the House floor to speak about her own abortion. "I had a procedure at 17 weeks, pregnant with a child that had moved from the vagina into the cervix. And that procedure that you just talked about was a procedure that I endured. I lost a baby," she said. "But for you to stand on this floor and to suggest, as you have, that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought is preposterous." Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler said the bill was illegal because it targets a specific group, and Manhattan BP also released a statement:

This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to de-fund Planned Parenthood, effectively declaring a war on affordable healthcare services all over the country. The results of this vote signal the risk of a true public health crisis.
Organizations like Planned Parenthood provide yearly Pap exams, HIV testing, breast and cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care and other essential medical services to the men and women who need it most. Planned Parenthood is often the only healthcare provider for underserved communities, those in high-risk situations and the uninsured and underinsured.
I stand with Planned Parenthood and related organizations in their fight to provide all people in this nation with safe, ethical, legal medical services. I urge the U.S. Senate to stop this destructive bill in its tracks before it is too late.

Planned Parenthood estimates they used $317 million in Title X funds for things like breast exams, cervical exams and infertility counseling last year, and has set up an open letter on their website to all Representatives who voted for the cuts. Even anti-abortion Democrat Stephen Lynch sees this as an unfair attack on public health. "This is about the ability of Planned Parenthood to conduct women's health care, to offer services that are deeply needed in many communities where no other source of health care is available…. I don't have many friends in the Planned Parenthood community. They don't support me. I am pro-life. But I respect the good work that they do."

 

 

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