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by James Wagoner, President, Advocates for Youth
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on a new GOP budget proposal that would eliminate all funding for Title X family planning programs in the United States — a move that would undermine low income people's access to health care and (conveniently for GOP ideologues) cripple Planned Parenthood clinics throughout the country.
With current funding for the federal government set to expire on March 4, we are fast approaching a showdown over the terms of passing a budget extension to keep the federal government from suddenly shutting down. By inserting this cut into a must-pass continuing resolution — rather than including it the regular budget process or as a stand alone bill, where it would almost certainly fail — Republicans are setting up a scenario where Congress may be forced to choose between eliminating family planning services for 5,000,000 Americans and shutting down the federal government.
We need your help NOW! Keep radical conservatives from gutting reproductive health care in the United States. Click here to take action!
This is not about the deficit.
The proposed elimination of Title X can hardly even masquerade as a serious attempt at deficit reduction. For a budget deficit of $1.5 trillion, this $327 million cut amounts to 0.0218%. The amount that directly funds Planned Parenthood comes out to a 0.001127% cut.
In fact, every $1 invested in Title X family planning saves $3.80 in later spending.
These cuts are not about "reducing government spending." They are the first undisguised admission that the GOP's number one priority — out in plain sight for all to see — is to eliminate access to abortion care, family planning, and reproductive health services at every possible opportunity.
Contact Congress TODAY! Tell them: Stop playing games with peoples lives. Focus on job creation and the economy — not decimating family planning and reproductive health care.
This is not about "taxpayer funding" for abortion.
In the coming weeks, the House will also be voting on two extreme bills that will turn back the clock on women's rights — the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" (HR 3) and the "Protect Life Act" (HR 358). These bills undermine all women's access to legal abortion care by raising taxes on private insurance plans that cover abortion; prohibiting Washington D.C. from using its own funds for legal abortion; and expanding "conscience clause" language to restrict access to abortion even if a woman's life is in danger.
Although Republican lawmakers claim these bills simply "codify existing law," these extreme measures go far beyond the "status quo." They are a massive, big government assault on women's health. The "middle ground" on abortion is family planning — helping women (and couples) prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place. Yet, these same GOP politicians are proposing to cut ALL funding for Title X family planning programs.
It is staggering that the Republican party — so publicly and vocally dedicated to "ending abortion" — is so militantly opposed to all efforts that make abortion less necessary.
TAKE ACTION: Congress MUST NOT put women's lives at risk. Restricting abortion access does not make abortion go away — it only makes safe abortion inaccessible and puts women's lives at risk!
This is about hypocrisy, not budget cuts.
If the Republican plan to "end the need for abortion by cutting pregnancy prevention programs" wasn't backwards enough, let's take a look at the programs they are funding. Even as the GOP claims to want to reduce federal spending, they continue to throw away $50 million a year on failed Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. And that's after a 2007 study mandated by Congress found that those very programs have "no impact" on teen behavior.
This isn't about fiscal responsibility. NOT when family planning saves taxpayers $3.80 for every $1 invested. NOT when Congress continues to fund ineffective programs that leave young people in the dark about sexual health. And NOT when Republicans claim to "oppose abortion" but attempt to eliminate family planning services that help prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place.
This is about one thing and one thing only: imposing a radical, social ideology on the American people no matter the cost.
The House of Representatives will vote next week on whether to cut Title X family planning programs from the federal budget. We are running out of time — and we need your help. Let's get to work. |
