Investing in the health of American women should not be a partisan dispute. Family planning decisions belong to women, their doctors and their families, not to ideologues in Congress. Unfortunately, House Republicans have made attacks on women's health services a top priority of the 112th Congress. Even more startling is that the measures we're considering will not only disproportionately limit low-income and minority women's access to basic health care, it will place unprecedented restrictions on the health insurance benefits offered to middle-class women, civil servants and small business owners.
Today, millions of low-income women and minority women receive basic health services through organizations like Planned Parenthood. They have come under relentless attack by anti-choice groups and their supporters on Capitol Hill, even though the majority of Americans endorse women's access to health care. More than 60 percent of voters support family planning programs, according to a recent national survey conducted by the Lombardo Consulting Group. Last Friday, the Hart Research Associates conducted a national poll that showed that 64 percent of registered voters oppose proposals to end all funding for Planned Parenthood, while the vast majority -- 81 percent -- of voters under age 30 opposes ending funding for Planned Parenthood.
So why are some Members of Congress so consumed with restricting women's access to the health services they need when we have an economy in shreds and devastating high unemployment? Why is the House Republican majority laser-focused on pursuing unprecedented government intrusion into reproductive rights? And, why do some lawmakers insist on using deceptively titled bills, like the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," when federal funding for abortion is already banned under current law, except in extremely narrow circumstances?
Over the past four months, House Republicans have introduced or reintroduced a series of legislation that would, among other things, redefine "forcible rape"; permanently block access of low-income women, civil servants and military women to abortion care; and penalize millions of small businesses that choose to offer their employees comprehensive health insurance coverage that includes abortion services. For a party whose mantra is "small government," Republicans' ceaseless meddling in women's health care flies in the face of every principle they claim to embrace.
But this is about more than just trying to square the Republican Party's call for small government with its penchant for federal intrusions into the lives of women. This is about imposing far-reaching restrictions on abortion access to a much larger share of the population than current laws allow. And, it is about implementing sweeping changes to federal tax policy that will raise health care costs for millions of women who seek comprehensive health care coverage.
These alarming efforts to roll back women's reproductive rights are paralleled by similar efforts on the state level. NARAL Pro-Choice America is tracking 371 anti-choice measures offered in state legislatures this year; there were 174 state bills at this time last year.
Last Wednesday, Virginia joined seven other states to ban health insurance plans in the Affordable Care Act's state health care exchanges from covering abortion -- even when women buy that insurance with their own, private dollars. In Nebraska today, it is illegal for a woman to obtain abortion care after 20 weeks, even in tragic cases of a fetal anomaly.
Such radical measures against women are anachronistic and insidious; their immediate consequences will be felt throughout our population.
It used to be a statement of fact that investing in the health of women is good for the country. The fundamental recognition that in a civilized society, we must strive to provide basic services to all -- not just the wealthy -- is missing in the current legislative discussions about women's health. Playing politics with women's health is simply wrong. American women deserve better.
Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) is a physician as well as a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Throughout his career as an elected official in the Washington State Legislature and U.S. Congress, his primary focus has been improving our health care systems to provide more affordable, effective and accessible care to all Americans.
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In order to stabilize the economy for more than a few months, we need to invest in worthwhile policy that will continue to stimulate it for many years to come. Expanding access to healthcare and higher education is well worth the investment when you consider the payoff of being healthy and a college degree. HEALTHY PEOPLE are obviously able to contribute to society in many ways... while on the other hand, SICK PEOPLE who are unable to afford the treatments that they need, will probably have a difficult time holding down a job because they are SICK.. and more than likely, many of these sick people will end up having to resort to using government healthcare (tax payer's $$) because they cannot obtain insurance through an employer, and clearly they have no income to pay for a private insurance policy. It is pretty simple stuff really.
Being GREEDY has gotten us NOWHERE. We should be giving to women, children & the poor.. not taking from them. It is time to start doing what makes sense for the PEOPLE & the FUTURE.
Tell that to all the women who get PAP smears, cervical cancer screenings, mamograms, and a variety of other healthcare that has absolutely nothing to do with abortions.
Better yet, unless you grow a womb anytime in the near future, you really have no business in telling women what healthcare they can have.
This funding makes up such a small part of all federal spending... for example 50% of our federal budget is on defense and security.
This is clearly a targeted attack on PP and has nothing to do with a real desire to fix our budget deficit. I don't think anyone is suggesting taking 100% of profits...I pay taxes, small businesses pay taxes, why can't a corporation pay taxes? In 2010 GM paid out 21 billion dollars in bonuses and the taxpayers bailed them out to the tune of 71 billion dollars a few years before and did they pay taxes in 2010? Nope they got a 3.2 billion dollar tax credit. The money is there we are the richest nation in the world our tax system is broken.
You honestly think that a person's neighbors should buy their birth control for them? If someone wants to be sexually active that is fine, but part of being an adult is accepting the responsibility of your own actions. Buy your own birth control. Pay for your own health related expenses. The biggest problem in the medical field right now is that people have no incentive to find ways to save money. To most people a $3 pill costs the same as a 3 cent pill. Their insurance picks up the cost so there is no market for cheap, but effective solutions.
Money wasted bailing out GM or wasted in other areas does not mean that we should waste more money on other things. We should stop wasting that money also. We are borrowing from future generations. We are putting them at risk. If we looked at the big picture we couldn't claim to be under any type of real crisis. The economy is in a downturn, but overall we are still doing very well as a whole. So what is the excuse for us to have a debt equal to our GDP? To be borrowing 43% of government spending in the next budget. Which is a record.
Of course, our nation has a horrid record on human rights and womens' rights so I wouldn't recommend holding my breath on seeing the Republicans move on this in a reasonable, civilized manner - or even one that simply does anything besides treat women (and our bodies) as anything more than pawns in a political game. Damn it, Bohener, we ARE human. And despite being female, we have the right to privacy and the right to decisions about our bodies - just like men (such as you) do. Rights are not dependent on gender or status - or at least they're not supposed to be. So unless we're moving backwards in time by at least a hundred years (or more), the Republicans need to keep their noses out of womens uteri and stop their anti-abortion policing.
Playing politics is a true description, playing a game is what it is to them. Win at any cost, lie about anything and everything, anyway at all to win the next election is their only goal. No concern about the real damage done to real people.
The direction of our country is disgraceful and frightening if you aren't one of the haves or have mores.