Texas GOP Takes Drastic Measures To Defund Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON -- In an attempt to defund Planned Parenthood without breaking any federal rules, Texas lawmakers passed two measures this month that will decimate the state's family planning program and result in nearly 300,000 women losing access to cancer and diabetes screenings.

In early June, Rick Perry, Texas' Republican governor, signed a budget bill that reduced the state's family planning funding from $111 million to just $37 million. Then on Monday, state lawmakers passed a measure that forces the Texas Health Department to dole out the remaining funds using a tiered priority system, in which Planned Parenthood is at the very bottom.

"It doesn't completely defund us, but it puts the agency in a position where they have to put us third in line for the money," said Yvonne Gutierrez, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of South Texas. "And it's not only us that's in the third tier -- it's all the traditional family planning providers that don't provide comprehensive care, many in rural areas. So it's the hard to reach population that's really being affected by this."

Texas Planned Parenthood offices have two avenues through which they receive state and federal money: the Women's Health Program (WHP), which is funded by Medicaid, and the state family planning program, which is funded by the Title X federal grant program. In addition to putting private providers like Planned Parenthood last in line for Title X funds, GOP lawmakers inserted language into the new Medicaid bill that will prevent WHP money from going to any entity that provides abortions or is affiliated with an abortion provider.

Because Planned Parenthood corporately separated its abortion services from its family planning services in 2005, every abortion it performs in Texas is paid for privately by the patient. But the Health Department will now have to define the word "affiliate" to determine whether Planned Parenthood's abortion and family planning services are closely related enough to disqualify it from state Medicaid funding.

"Anti-choice lobbyists have spent the entire year confusing the facts," said Peter J. Durkin, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, in an email to HuffPost. "These groups pressured lawmakers to de-fund Planned Parenthood by muddling conversations about family planning programs with false accusations that they subsidize abortion care. There is absolutely no legitimacy to their claims – and they know it."

Nearly half of the 120,000 low-income Texas women who use the WHP for basic health care, birth control and cancer screenings do so through a Planned Parenthood clinic, so the Health and Human Services Commission's ruling could be a devastating blow to family planning.

"If they're gonna kick Planned Parenthood out of the program, then all of these women going to a Planned Parenthood clinic are gonna have to go to another provider -- and these providers are already operating at capacity," Gutierrez told HuffPost.

Further, if Texas breaks federal Medicaid rules by discriminating against Planned Parenthood, the state could risk nearly $150 million in federal family planning funds.

The state of Indiana recently faced a similar predicament, and a federal agency rejected its attempt to cut Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood on the grounds that it takes away a patient's freedom to choose a qualified provider.

Gutierrez said the Texas chapter is "encouraged" by the ruling in Indiana and plans to launch a similar challenge in court.

But a spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said she believes the Texas version could stand. "Our attorney general believes that we have the right to limit how those tax dollars are spent," she said.

Comments

[MissAmynae]

02:51 PM on 07/01/2011

Thanks to Planned Parenthood, I don't have cancer, and still have the ability to bear children. I started going there for my care at age 11. I was not sexually active until age 20, but rather had multiple "girl issues" that, had they been left untreated, would have almost certainly required a full hysterectomy by the age of 17. I also would have not located multiple pre-cancerous pap smears and breast tumors.

PP a godsend for women and couples who don't have access to health insurance. I received more thorough care at my local clinic in Austin, TX than I did with most physician's offices.

We've donated to PP for nearly 10 years now, but when we found out about this, we doubled our contributions. I encourage those who support PP, especially in Texas and other states who are pushing this agenda, to consider supporting PP with donations

[perpetualsanity]

05:43 AM on 06/30/2011

Despicable.

[rmonroe]

01:39 AM on 06/30/2011

Is Texas still in the US? I thought they were their own right wingnut country now.

[Vardi]

07:17 PM on 07/01/2011

lol very nicely put!

[quedog]

12:53 PM on 08/24/2011

texas is still in the US
and yes it is filled with republican wingnuts, who don't have common sense or education.
it is also filled with people like reverend ricky who have an education but don't believe in science

[Vittorio Felaco]

06:58 PM on 06/29/2011

In many country women have a right to an abortion! Is what Texas is doing part of the usual exceptionalism story full of holes and silly pretensions? Please tell me that this country knows how to separate fiction from facts, necessities from pi in the sky!

[quedog]

12:54 PM on 08/24/2011

i can't tell you that
this country elected W twice and then blames obama

[JPETERB]

01:27 PM on 06/29/2011

Won't this legislative action REDUCE the number of health care workers, RESTRICT access to general screening for diabetes and cancer and limit preventative health care for women and INCREASE the number of unemployed persons in Texas?
Is this an example of the 'small government; and the 'job creation' these politicians always talk about?
This shows it is not only just 'empty and bloodless' talk, but that they are working hard to make it a 'full blooded lie' too.

[troyrobertdavid]

11:33 AM on 06/29/2011

What is with all these GOP Governors trying to defund PP, are they so shortsighted as to not see how this place helps people in need? PP helps low income people with all kinds of medical needs, the least of which is abortions, (you know that constitutional right that women have.) These attacks on the poor are irreprehensible. They don’t care how many people will suffer because of these actions, their only concern is making it harder for a women to protect their own health and stopping them from acting on their constitutional rights.

[stephenkillroz]

11:47 AM on 06/29/2011

no. their only concern is themselves. they don't use it; why should anyone else need it?

[waujvari1274]

11:15 AM on 06/29/2011

I am really not understanding what is going on in our country right now. I read a lot of posts talking about Republicans cutting this or that; but they are not the only ones. Obama's FY2010 budget, he cut a lot as well. Here is the link:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/planned-parenthood-statement-president-obamas-2010-budget-26882.htm

What I don't understand is why aren't we taking on health care costs? The problem really isn't that people aren't covered. The problem really is that people that are not covered cannot afford health care because it is out of control. Even Americans with health care insurance have a difficult time paying off bills when something major happened.

So instead of going with fighting health care costs, our politicians in Washington have decided to attack health care that is actually affordable? This budget also cuts education and 5,700 jobs in the state of Texas. Have we really gotten to the point where affordable health care, education and more jobs are getting cut instead of generating revenue?

[Leon Belter]

11:28 AM on 06/29/2011

Unfortunately, our health care system is money; and money is talking in Washington. If Politicians actually got health care costs under control and put them on par, with..say, England; the average middle class citizen would be able to afford health care. However, there would be a huge backlash from Health Care Companies, Pharmaceutical companies because the huge amounts of cash they have been able to pocket over the decades would be gone.

What I want to know is how "we the people" choose a candidate instead of one being chose for us? Because it seems it doesn't matter who we elect; it is just more of the same.

[Tim Lesters]

11:36 AM on 06/29/2011

Of course its about the money. When was the last time the medical field actually came up with a cure for something? If they did cure something, the money wouldn't be sustained for long periods of time.

However, I doubt anyone in Washington will actually solve any issue during a campaign period. It's all about trying to get votes based on what they say; and not what they do!

I can't even tell the political parties apart anymore...

[Patrick Zooka]

11:41 AM on 06/29/2011

don't expect that to happen anytime soon.

[murphysgirl]

11:00 AM on 06/29/2011

Women's rights are being decimated state by state..This is a travesty of the highest order.

[Tom Coffeel]

11:38 AM on 06/29/2011

what's a travesty...is that this is only the start. more decimation to come...

[ElizabethRoo]

10:40 AM on 06/29/2011

Enough already. No more republicans in charge of anything.

[Lucy0808]

11:34 AM on 06/29/2011

They are great at the marketing hype and keeping themselves in line. They are horrible at serving in government. They are irresponsible and short sighted.

[We Should Care]

10:39 AM on 06/29/2011

When taxpayer start to pay attention it will be too late, they need to understand they will pay with their tax dollars one way or another. For women who will not be screened for any kind of cancer will end up with numerous clinic, hospital stays, and finally hospice stays, and the taxpayer will end up with her bill and will have to pay anyway. politicians can call it what they want, it won't stop the taxpayer from ending up paying these bills with their tax dollars.

[p456]

10:19 AM on 06/29/2011

Republican women are nothing but owned property and they fully accept being treated like mules. Now please stop standing in the way of progress for women who choose not to be door mats.

[LennyR]

01:57 PM on 06/29/2011

Do only women who think properly (defined as agreeing with you) deserve respect?

[LennyR]

01:58 PM on 06/29/2011

If you demean and insult all women who hold opinions different from those you think they should, how can you maintain that it is "conservatives" that keep women subjugated and not yourself?

[rmonroe]

01:41 AM on 06/30/2011

Spoken like a man. You don't give a hoot about Woman's rights. The op is correct that Republicans treat woman like mules to bear their children and stand barefoot and naked in the kitchen. In other words, Republican men have not evolved.

[stepoutofthenorm]

09:44 AM on 06/29/2011

U.S. history textbooks could soon be flavored heavily with Texas conservatism. They are rewriting history. Most textbooks come from both California and Texas. Very dangerous. It is slanted with a Republican agenda and it is indoctrination intended. Susan B. Anthony had nothing to do with the abortion era. The far right is very dangerous. This movement is misogynistic. Women wake up! We are reliving the women's movement all over again and a new form of civil rights has emerged. They are shaming and blaming women for all that is wrong in America! They are picking on the poor that will never meet their ideological standards. Poor people have a very different life. You can't hold others to your belief system or your way of live. This isn't about abortion; this is about control and using heated issues and hiding behind morality to push an evil Republican agenda.

[stepoutofthenorm]

09:36 AM on 06/29/2011

Palin crowed about how the Right, and specifically the Susan B. Anthony List, is reclaiming the feminist
Movement and bringing it "back to its original roots." But, typical of Palin, this is empty talk: Lynn
Sherr, a biographer of Anthony, and Ann Gordon, a historian who edited Anthony's papers, said as much
in the Washington Post: "We have read every single word that this very voluble -- and endlessly political –
woman left behind. Our conclusion: Anthony spent no time on the politics of abortion. It was of no interest
to her, despite living in a society (and a family) where women aborted unwanted pregnancies."
-
But this truth is probably too inconvenient for Palin and those who fill out her anti-abortion cohort.
-
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/10/sarah-palin-embracing-feminism-or-co-opting-it-for-conservativ/

[stepoutofthenorm]

09:35 AM on 06/29/2011

FACT: Susan B. Anthony spent no time on the politics of abortion. It was of no interest to her, despite living in a society (and a family) where women aborted unwanted pregnancie­s." Sarah Palin is no feminist. The abortion issue came muc later in our history.

But this truth is probably too inconvenie­nt for Palin and those who fill out her anti-abort­ion cohort.

http://www­.politicsd­aily.com/2­010/06/10/­sarah-pali­n-embracin­g-feminism­-or-co-opt­ing-it-for­-conservat­iv/

[snakpak]

07:00 PM on 06/29/2011

Guilty? Yes, no matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh! Thrice guilty is he who, for selfish gratification, heedless of her prayers, indifferent to her fate, drove her to the desperation which impels her to the crime.”


Quote by Susan B. Anthony

[Annabell6]

09:02 AM on 06/29/2011

When out to dinner with some friends one night, we got on the topic of the recent attempts to defund/disenfranchise Planned Parenthood nationwide. One of the coolest things someone at the table said was, "I used to be against Planned Parenthood until I found out what they actually did". It's not some free abortion factory where women go to casually end their pregancies before going out to starbucks and then into bed for unprotected sex. It is a doctors office. Plain and simple.

[waujvari1274]

11:57 AM on 06/29/2011

You can add me to that list as well Annabell6. I thought that way because that is all you ever hear. And if you don't know anyone personally that goes; well you don't really think about it. But, when you start thinking to yourself that there isn't a reliable news outlet or newspaper out there that doesn't spin it a certain way...why not do some research for yourself. I have to say, it is an amazing program.

[Annabell6]

01:40 PM on 06/29/2011

My friend's perspective and yours are really eye-opening. I have a lot of respect for you waujvari1274, for your ability to come to a new conclusion about something, especially when the hype around it makes that extra-difficult.

[snakpak]

06:58 PM on 06/29/2011

Just becuase the test for STD's means we can overlook the millions of abortions they have performed? Hitler changed Germanys economy around when he first got into power. Is that all he actually did?

[Annabell6]

08:38 AM on 06/30/2011

They do much more than that. What PP does is clinically no different than any other hospital clinic or OB/GYN in the country, so I see little reason in attacking the subject of abortion itself when I would much rather focus on the preventative measures it takes to minimize it. Planned Parenthood is an easy target because of it's accessibility. And I'm confused by that last question...what do Hitler's domestic policies have to with abortion in the modern U.S.? Are you comparing abortions to genocide?