Democrats Vow To Fight For Planned Parenthood

Minority News
February 15, 2011
http://www.blackradionetwork.com/democrats_vow_to_fight_for_planned_parenthood

WASHINGTON -Members of Congress have joined with Planned
Parenthood Federation of America to speak out against the
House leadership's assault on women's health, including
proposals to completely eliminate the National Family
Planning Program (Title X) and pass the Pence bill to bar any
federal funds going to Planned Parenthood for health care of
any kind.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member on the Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Services
Subcommittee on House Appropriations Committee said, "The
American people want Congress to work together to address
their top priority: creating jobs. Instead, the Republican
majority, in a breath-taking and radical step, has proposed
to eliminate Title X funding, which has connected millions of
American women to health care since 1970. This Republican
Congress is trying to turn back the clock on women's health
and turn back the clock on women's basic rights. They are
taking us back to a day when family planning was not a given
opportunity for women. Instead of making it harder for women
to get health care, we should be standing up for these vital
services. And that is what I will continue to do, on behalf
of American women and the families I represent.'

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), in introducing an amendment to
restore funding for Title X, said, 'Congress should use the
continuing resolution to create jobs, not to further the
extreme assault on women's reproductive rights by eliminating
the cost effective family planning program. We all agree we
must cut spending, but it is reckless to eliminate programs
that save taxpayer dollars. In New York, more than 311,000
women are served by Title X funded clinics. That is why I
will offer an amendment to restore $317 million for family
planning.'

Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) said, 'If we really want to reduce the
need for abortions and reduce the federal deficit, we should
double the funding for family planning and preventive care,
not eliminate it as is being called for by anti-choice
Members of Congress. Studies have shown that such an
investment could reduce unplanned pregnancies, prevent and
detect diseases like cervical cancer, and save taxpayers
nearly $2 billion per year.  While we all agree about the
need to reduce wasteful spending, eliminating a successful
program that saves the taxpayer money and provides critical
health care services to our mothers, sisters, and friends is
just a bad idea.'

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) said, 'The real impact of eliminating
the Title X program and prohibiting all federal funding for
Planned Parenthood, one of the largest women's health
providers in the country, is that millions of women across
the country will lose access to basic primary and preventive
health care, including lifesaving cancer screenings, family
planning, contraception, STI testing and treatment, and
annual exams.'

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) said, 'Instead of going after
unemployment or getting our economy on track, Republicans are
waging a war against women, and women are taking note. They
want to shrink government so small, that it just fits inside
our bedrooms. Republicans have proven with their package of
anti-choice, anti-women's legislation, they are working to
undermine access to reproductive health care. Now, they have
launched an all out assault on birth control, family
planning, and in specific on Planned Parenthood, which plays
an absolute essential role in our nation's health care
system. Planned Parenthood is really the brand right now for
women's health care. Last week, 99 of my colleagues joined me
in sending a letter to Speaker Boehner strongly opposing Rep.
Pence's legislation, which is squarely targeted at Planned
Parenthood.'

'For 95 years, Planned Parenthood has been a trusted health
care provider. One in five American women has received care
from a Planned Parenthood health center during her lifetime,
and last year three million patients came to one of our more
than 800 health centers. We are trusted by millions of women
and families, and we deliver care to women who need it,' said
Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America. 'What many people don't know is that
more than 90% of our health care services are preventive. We
are an expert in family planning - and last year, we provided
birth control to nearly 2.5 million patients. In fact, every
year we prevent an estimated 612,000 unintended pregnancies.'

One hundred members of Congress signed a letter showing
widespread support for Planned Parenthood. The letter
declared, 'We are writing to strongly oppose efforts designed
to undermine women's access to basic, preventive health care
and the women's health providers they rely on in their
communities. In particular, we are deeply concerned about the
impact that H.R. 217, the ‘Title X Abortion Provider
Prohibition Act,' [Rep. Pence's companion, standalone bill]
would have on American women and their families. H.R. 217 is
aimed squarely at Planned Parenthood health centers.'

In addition, House members are planning to host a Special
Order Hour on Tuesday evening, to focus on the House
Leadership's attempts to eliminate the Title X National
Family Planning program and to strip all federal funds from
Planned Parenthood.

Just last week, under the guise of deficit reduction, the
House Republican leadership continued their assault on
women's health by announcing two extreme proposals that
target women's health care programs and women's health
providers.

In the House Appropriations Committee's FY11 Continuing
Resolution, they proposed to completely eliminate the Title X
family planning program. This program has provided millions
of American women with lifesaving health care since Richard
Nixon signed it into law in 1970. Gutting Title X would deny
five million American women preventive care, including annual
exams, lifesaving cancer screenings, contraceptive services,
and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted
infections.

In addition, Rep. Mike Pence - with the full support of
Speaker John Boehner - announced that he will offer an
amendment to prohibit all Planned Parenthood health centers
from receiving any federal funds to provide affordable cancer
screenings, birth control, HIV testing, and testing and
treatment for other sexually transmitted infections.

To underscore the far reach of Rep. Pence's proposal, it
would also cut off the approximately 1.4 million Medicaid
patients served by Planned Parenthood from their source of
health care.  Forty-eight percent (approximately 1.4 million)
of Planned Parenthood's patients use Medicaid for their
health care coverage and as a direct result of the Pence
amendment, they would lose access to their health care
provider.

In doing so, the Pence amendment also reverses a long-
standing patient protection in Medicaid law that ensures that
Medicaid patients can access family planning services with
any willing provider.

Rep. Pence's proposal is an unprecedented, ideological attack
on a specific health care provider that will result in more
women losing access to the very basic health care they need.

More than 90 percent of the care Planned Parenthood health
centers offer is preventive, yet Rep. Pence is steadfast in
wanting to defund Planned Parenthood, because it also
provides women with abortion care.

Every year, Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses carry out
nearly one million lifesaving screenings for cervical cancer
and 830,000 breast exams, and its health centers also provide
contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients and nearly four
million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV.

Planned Parenthood is also an essential health care provider.
For six in 10 women who receive medical care from doctors and
nurses at family planning health centers like those run by
Planned Parenthood, these centers are their main source of
health care.

Combined, these two extreme proposals would completely
undermine millions of women's access to basic primary and
preventive health care, such as lifesaving cancer screenings,
contraception, HIV testing and counseling, STI testing and
treatment, and annual exams.

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