The self righteous assault by the Republicans in Congress continues. Those that created the financial mess in our country are now using it to try to turn back decades of progress in human rights, environmental rights, consumer and environmental protection and much more. An editorial in the New York Times yesterday on “The War on Women” points out just one more example.As the editorial notes:
Republicans in the House of Representatives are mounting an assault on women’s health and freedom that would deny millions of women access to affordable contraception and life-saving cancer screenings and cut nutritional support for millions of newborn babies in struggling families. And this is just the beginning.
The budget bill pushed through the House last Saturday included the defunding of Planned Parenthood and myriad other cuts detrimental to women…
The egregious cuts in the House resolution include the elimination of support for Title X, the federal family planning program for low-income women that provides birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and testing for H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted diseases. In the absence of Title X’s preventive care, some women would die. The Guttmacher Institute, a leading authority on reproductive health, says a rise in unintended pregnancies would result in some 400,000 more abortions a year.
Erica C Barnett in a post on Pubicola entitled, What Planned Parenthood Cuts Would Mean For Washington State, notes that nationally “publicly funded family planning sevices like Planned Parenthood prevent 1.94 million unplanned pregnancies and 810,000 abortions every year.” Here in Washington State. Barnett quotes figures that estimate eliminating federal Planned Parenthood funding would result in:
25,700 more unplanned pregnancies.
11,400 more unplanned children.
10,700 more abortions.
All of which will cost the state an additional $183 million a year
Of course, many of these proposed cuts would not even be on the table if Republicans in Congress had not pushed for tax cuts for millionaires over making funds available for programs that assist those more in need. Caviar for the very rich according to the Republican Agenda is more important that food for hungry babies.
Before you ever vote for another Republican remember just whose priorities they represent when it comes to government. It’s not women or babies.
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