Today, the Republican led Congress passed the Pence Amendment, cutting funding for early cancer screenings, HIV tests, mammograms and birth control to low income people, mostly women.
In an effort to hoodwink his constituents into believing he's doing something to fight against womens' reproductive rights, Indiana Republican Mike Pence, authored the amendment. The Pence Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with abortion and will not have any effect on its funding since the federal government does not fund abortion services. The Pence Amendment will bar the funding of health services provided by Planned Parenthood.
Since Planned Parenthood receives NO federal funding for abortion services, Pence's Amendment is a hollow gesture to placate his more ignorant supporters.
Instead of working on creating jobs at a time when Americans are struggling to put food on the table, the Republican Congress has chosen instead to be involved in what appears to be an all out attack on the health and rights of American women.
Not only is it a cavalier dismissal of the health of millions of American women, the Pence Amendment will cost American taxpayers billions of dollars when the people who might have gotten early cancer screenings, mammograms, and other tests for preventable and treatable diseases become ill with what should have been easy to detect and treat diseases.
Pence and his Republican colleagues are not only against legal, constitutional abortion, it appears from today's actions, they want to end access to birth control altogether.
Executive Director of "Families USA," Ron Pollack stated, "Representative Pence's amendment will callously and dangerously jeopardize women's access to high-quality, affordable health care in every state across the nation."
The Pence Amendment first came up for the vote in 2009 when it was soundly defeated.
Since the Pence Amendment has no effect on abortion services, it can only be concluded that Pence and his Republican colleagues in Congress want to prevent health screenings, care, and birth control to poor women.
Planned Parenthood is fighting back, asking supporters to send emails and pledge to stand with them as they fight the meaningless and cynical gesture known as the Pence Amendment.
Comments
Let us not forget that there are PLENTY of avenues to go down to get help for "womanly needs". As a matter of fact, I've not had anything to do with Planned Parenthood since I was a teenager and I am now living off social security. If the taxpayers, who are helping me now in my time of need, don't wish their money to go to Planned Parenthood, then more power to 'em.
Surely you are not saying that wealthy white men are willing to make cosmetic cuts to the federal budget at the expense of poor women.
Margaret Senger, founder of Planned Parenthood was a racist. They serve our communities so that they can get rid of us. Read, Unplanned by Abby Johnson. I used to work in the Latino community in Chicago. They have us killing our own, and helping to promote promiscuity in our community. I've seen it first hand with my own eyes. Blacks and Latinos and even well intended white people are being lied to. I've seen it first hand in Chicago. Wake up and look into what the pro-life community has to say. If you don't agree you don't agree, just don't remain ignorant as to what "The Man" is telling you friend. I woke up to the truth, and so can you.
Thank you for this informed, accurate article. It's a shame that so many people - women included - believe what Pence is selling them. Yes, Planned Parenthood provides abortion services - which are currently LEGAL in this country - but they also do more to prevent unintended pregnancy (hence, abortion) than any pro-life organization. If you shut down PP, abortion rates will increase dramatically.
"Since Planned Parenthood receives NO federal funding for abortion services"
Really, I've read otherwise. And if they do, it should be stopped. Humans shouldn't have to pay for animals to kill their own.
Save the whales, mass murder the children!
There is a federal law in place that prevents any federal funding for abortion. I don't know where you read differently, but it's a federal law, it's on the record and you can get public access to the public record. Sometimes people send emails and spread information that they believe to be true that is not. It's always a good idea, especially on such an important issue as this, that we double check information before making a decision about an issue.
The Hyde Amendment prevents the funding by the federal government of abortion.
"There is a federal law in place that prevents any federal funding for abortion."
Excellent. As long as no fed, state or local tax dollars go for abortions we are on the road to agreement. However, there is still the problem of government funded health care.
It's gotta go. It isn't the government's responsibility or duty to provide medical services to ANYONE.
5GFj
Lori, "their womanly needs?" Are you sure you aren't a man? Please tell us all those avenues to go down to get help. Where can a woman go to get a mammogram, cancer screening, HIV test, etc. if she has no health insurance? Or if she has health insurance that doesn't cover these things. Please let the readers know because if there are so many places where women can get these services free or at a drastic discount, we need to know.
You can get a free mommogram from the American Cancer Society. You can get free STD testing at any local Health Dept. Contraceptives are also available via your local Health Dept. I don't know about any other choices one might have besides these and Planned Parenthood but there is at least an alternative. To be honest, if I had the choice between going to the Health Dept. and Planned Parenthood, I would go to the Health Dept. I was treated better at my local Health Dept. than I was at Planned Parenthood.
Actually the American Cancer Society does not provide mammogram services. While some city health departments offer STD testing, many rural areas are completely without those resources. It's clear that anonymous here has a problem with Planned Parenthood for personal reasons. But the important thing here is that the American Cancer Society does NOT provide free mammograms. While the American Cancer Society is a great organization, it's not within its ability and means to provide cancer screening for people who cannot afford them. Planned Parenthood is the only place that consistently offers cancer screening, birth control and other health services.
Call your SENATOR : 1877 8516437
The House passed the "Pence amendment" to stop funding family planning. This is a blow against empowering women.!
Today, the world has 6.8 billion people. In spite of present family planning funds, by 2020, we expect TWO BILLION MORE PEOPLE.
Discontinuing funding will further increase world population, not giving us time to prevent the scientific predictions that portend HUMANS WILL BECOME EXTINCT in 100-200 years.
The UN estimates that today, 201 million women still have no access to family planning or contraception, causing 52 million unwanted pregnancies, 22 million abortions and 1.4 million infant deaths annually: double the yearly deaths during World War II.
The excuse that this is to “cut costs” is disingenuous, because for every public $1 invested in preventing unplanned pregnancy saves $4.02 for the government. Contraceptive use alone, saves yearly $19 billion in direct medical costs. This does not include costs to families and nations who already are facing growing famine and death, as the planet has now reached its tipping point.
Excess population is overwhelming natural resources causing food shortages and global warming which Prof. Fenner and the National Academy of Sciences predict will cause HUMAN EXTINCTION.
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/humans-will-be-extinct-100-years-fenner
Women put themselves in jepardy by being a slut and not knowing when to close their legs, then they have an inconvenience of a child growing inside them, and that cramps their style, so what to they do, they kill the thing that is inconvenient to their lifestyle choices. Public funding should not be used, I will not pay for some little whore to go around being a whore and then murder their kid.
Rape and deformity is different of course. But if a woman wants so bad to kill their kids because they get in the way of being a whore, then they should take their own risk with a clothes hanger and if they die from it, well, thats what you get for being a promiscuous whore.
No public funding for murder except for the case of rape or deformity.
The same idiots who want to make it ok to kill their unborn kids are also trying to make it ok to kill someone in defense of that unborn child. Which is it, is it a child or is it a piece of meat, you cant have it both ways.
Looks to me like you all want your cake and eat it too so you can sway the killing of unborn children in either direction, only to benefit one person making them almost deified...the mother. She can kill her own kid, but holy hell will break loose if someone other than the mother does it eh? Lets just put all mothers on a pedestal above everyone else, thats the american way isnt it, who cares if we were all created equal, mothers rule, and anyone else must suffer for them.
"legal, constitutional abortion"
There is nothing in the constitution that gives you the right to murder. Abortion is not even mentioned because no one went around advocating killing their unborn child back then.
God said He knew you before you were born. Nuff said.
RSBL: Have you ever masturbated? Then by your standards, you are a murderer. I'm sure God knows every sperm that you've spilled down the gutter.
It is clear from your rant that you hate women, especially mothers.
Sperm is no more a child than the egg that a woman ejects every month, it is when it is fertilized that it becomes a being.
I bet you dropped out of school in kindergarten didnt you, ya must have missed biology class.
I wish all those in favor of arbitrarily killing their children had their parents feel the same way.
As for hating mothers....lol whatever, we were ALL created equal, to put one above another is against humanity and equality. You want to make mothers so special, that whatever they do is ok, but all hell will break loose if someone else has those same rights? How about the law being proposed that you can use deadly force to defend an unborn child, but the mother alone can decide its fate? What about the fathers, do they not have a say in their childs well being?
RSBL, what a sad, misguided individual. Don't tell me, let me guess...you are a Republican.
Karen, great article. Pence is a putz. Have you noticed that it is always men, who want to change laws to further restrict the rights of women?
I am neither repub or dem, that false left/right system was designed to divide americans, if you subscribe to either, then you are the idiot who has fallen for the old divide and conquer techniques.
A woman has no more right to kill their unborn than I have to come up and punch a pregnant woman in the gut and kill it myself.
You want to be satanic, do it in the privacy of your own home.Alone.
To the people saying that aboriton should only be allowed in cases of rape: first of all, a large amount of rape case go unreported. Of the ones that ARE reported, most of the rapists aren't convicted. It can be very hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the rapist did in fact coerce the woman into sex. With that being said, the vast majority of rape victims WILL NOT have legal documentation stating they were raped. So will they have to deal will the burden of their rapist going free AND having to raise a product of rape by themselves?
And the people bringing God into this, stop right there. Seperation of church and state. God has no place in this debate, I am sorry. I am fine with religion but it has no place in the law because not all US citizens practice the same thing.
3 percent of Planned Parenthood's resources go towards abortion. Planned Parenthood saves lives by giving little to no-cost std's screenings and treatment, hpv-related cancer screenings and treatment, condoms, counseling, and general sex education. It is very beneficial to women who may not have adequate healthcare or money in giving them resources.
This amendment is outrageous. It's a slap in the face to the women's rights movements and to women everywhere.
How about teaching some modesty and not enabling women to catch STDs in the first place?
I agree about separation of church and state, but murder is not something that should be legal, also, women have ruined the rape angle by too many false accusations in order to exact revenge on those they feel slighted them.
It boils down to not acting like a whore, problem solved, except for actual rape.
Killing is killing, was it alive before being aborted? Yep, because you had to kill it. No one has the right to decide who lives and dies, because someday, someone may make that choice for you, ill bet you wouldnt be saying they have a right to do so would you, im sure the hol9ocaust victims were thinking it was ok for arbitrary death sentences huh? The problem is the child does not have the ability to plead for his life, you are taking the babies right to life without even asking its permission, so you are putting a womans right above all others, especially the unborn child.
I guess what I am saying, apart from what the Bible says, is that you have every right to do what you want as long as you are not violating another's constitutional rights.
What you do not have the right to do is to force me and others to fund this nonsense with our tax dollars, especially if we are against it.
But you must wrestle with this yourselves as it says in the declaration of Independence, the RIGHT to LIFE, liberty and the persuit of happiness.
Are you violating your child's right to life and to decide for themselves, did you just murder the one person who could have come up with the cure for cancer? These are serious questions to ask yourself before you abort. I honestly dont think the majority of women who abort think about these aspects, or whether it was so necessary that life needed to be terminated, or was it because it was an inconvenience to their lifestyle. If it was a lifestyle choice, or to cover for being promiscuous, then I believe it is as heinous as any murder in itself.
Like I said, you have no right to try and force me to live by your standards anymore than I have over you, but killing is serious business, and everyones business.
@RSBL, you one very disturbed and self-righteous individual, who should get off your preacher's soap-box about something you only have a very biased and one-sided understanding of.
The Supreme Court has upheld the finding that a fetus doesn't have constitutional rights, anymore more than a single egg or a single sperm. So, it does not fall into the category of "murder, or killing an innocent child" as you are trying to claim. How ridiculous do you want to get?
You are right about one thing, you don't have the right to force other people to live by your hypocritical and draconian standards and how many times does it need to be repeated here that Planned Parenthood doesn't use federal funds for the 2 percent of abortions they are involved with every year? NO FUNDING out of your pocket. Let me repeat that--NO funding taken from tax payers to fund abortions at PP.
RSBL: The Pence Amendment isn't about abortion. It is about denying health screenings to women such as mammograms as well as birth control. The Pence Amendment has no bearing on abortion. Since you feel very strongly about abortion, you should know that this article and the Pence Amendment has nothing to do with abortion.
So, Lori states that she has used Planned Parenthood and lives on Social Secrurity now, but she's all for denying someone else the privilege of PP, now that she no longer needs it.. Yet, she continues to avail herself of the services she currently needs/wants. That is the height of hypocrisy and antipathy.
RSBL-If they ever need a poster child for abortion-you would get my vote. You're a moronic mongrel.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1395956/five_videos_exposing_pl...
Planned parenthood is aiding in the enslavement of underage girls in the sex trades. They are not helping anyone!
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