VICTORY! President Obama Just Made It Impossible For Congress To Ever Defund Planned Parenthood

Right wingers and their political allies in the Republican Party just love to attack Planned Parenthood. They hold endless Congressional hearings which yield nothing but extremist lies and constantly attempt to cut funding to this provider of numerous healthcare services for women across the country.

But now the GOP obstructionists may have met their match in President Obama, who has just proposed a rule which would prevent states from defunding Planned Parenthood for political reasons.

The new rule, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, would cut Title X funding to any state that cuts money to Planned Parenthood As reported by the Huffington Post:

“The Title X program provides basic preventive health care and family planning services for 4 million low-income Americans. About 85 percent of patients who use Title X have incomes below $23,500. Planned Parenthood serves about a third of those patients, using the $70 million a year it receives in Title X grants to subsidize contraceptives and cancer and sexually transmitted infection screenings for people who can’t afford them. Title X does not allow any money to be used to pay for abortions for any reason.

“Still, politicians in 11 states have voted to block public funds from Planned Parenthood because its services include abortion. Republicans in Congress are also on a mission to defund the family planning provider, citing a series of debunked undercover videos produced by anti-abortion activists that purport to show Planned Parenthood selling fetal body parts.”

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, said she was thankful for the new rule:

“This will make a real difference in so many people’s lives. Thanks to the Obama administration, women will still be able to access the birth control they need to plan their families, and the cancer screenings they need to stay healthy.”

The new rule will take effect following a 30-day comment period, and it will put an end to using Planned Parenthood as a political football once and for all.

Well done, Mr. President! Well done!

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *