SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
National Pro-Choice Defenders 'Terrified' of This Latest Ploy to Attack Planned Parenthood
"We're all terrified. This is really huge, if they let Texas do this."
May 12, 2017
Texas is moving forward with an unprecedented and bold request to the federal government: the state wants federal money to help it strip all public funding from Planned Parenthood.
If Texas is successful, other states are likely to follow suit.
"We're all terrified," Elizabeth Nash, senior state issue manager at the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, told the Guardian. "This is really huge, if they let Texas do this."
The state is requesting funds for its "Healthy Texas Women" program, a state-run health program created after the Obama administration withdrew federal family planning funds from Texas for its efforts to illegally block federal Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood.
Healthy Texas Women is a family planning program that doesn't provide abortions, and critics have charged that it inadequately replaces other Planned Parenthood services as well.
The Guardian exclusively reported Friday:
[I]n a letter obtained by the Guardian, Texas officials ask the U.S. health department to fund its state program--the same one the state created after it defied federal laws that prohibit defunding Planned Parenthood.
In its letter, which is expected to be sent to the Trump administration as early as this week, Texas makes no indication that the state plans to comply with those laws and reinstate Planned Parenthood's funding.
This is despite a federal court ruling in February that issued a temporary injunction against Texas' attempts to bar Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood clinics.
"A half dozen other states have attempted to exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding. But only Texas, by giving up millions in such funding, has been successful," the Guardian notes.
If Texas succeeds in getting replacement federal funds from the (anti-women and anti-choice) Trump administration, that would signal to other states that they can break the law and defund Planned Parenthood without financial ramifications.
"It would let all of these states start kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid," Nash said. "And Medicaid is by far the largest form of public funding for family planning."
Medicaid funds pay for about 75 percent of publicly-funded family planning services across the country, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Texas is also attempting to defund Planned Parenthood by denying it Title X funding, as Common Dreams reported. Title X funds account for 10 percent of government family planning expenditures nationwide.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Texas is moving forward with an unprecedented and bold request to the federal government: the state wants federal money to help it strip all public funding from Planned Parenthood.
If Texas is successful, other states are likely to follow suit.
"We're all terrified," Elizabeth Nash, senior state issue manager at the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, told the Guardian. "This is really huge, if they let Texas do this."
The state is requesting funds for its "Healthy Texas Women" program, a state-run health program created after the Obama administration withdrew federal family planning funds from Texas for its efforts to illegally block federal Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood.
Healthy Texas Women is a family planning program that doesn't provide abortions, and critics have charged that it inadequately replaces other Planned Parenthood services as well.
The Guardian exclusively reported Friday:
[I]n a letter obtained by the Guardian, Texas officials ask the U.S. health department to fund its state program--the same one the state created after it defied federal laws that prohibit defunding Planned Parenthood.
In its letter, which is expected to be sent to the Trump administration as early as this week, Texas makes no indication that the state plans to comply with those laws and reinstate Planned Parenthood's funding.
This is despite a federal court ruling in February that issued a temporary injunction against Texas' attempts to bar Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood clinics.
"A half dozen other states have attempted to exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding. But only Texas, by giving up millions in such funding, has been successful," the Guardian notes.
If Texas succeeds in getting replacement federal funds from the (anti-women and anti-choice) Trump administration, that would signal to other states that they can break the law and defund Planned Parenthood without financial ramifications.
"It would let all of these states start kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid," Nash said. "And Medicaid is by far the largest form of public funding for family planning."
Medicaid funds pay for about 75 percent of publicly-funded family planning services across the country, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Texas is also attempting to defund Planned Parenthood by denying it Title X funding, as Common Dreams reported. Title X funds account for 10 percent of government family planning expenditures nationwide.
Texas is moving forward with an unprecedented and bold request to the federal government: the state wants federal money to help it strip all public funding from Planned Parenthood.
If Texas is successful, other states are likely to follow suit.
"We're all terrified," Elizabeth Nash, senior state issue manager at the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, told the Guardian. "This is really huge, if they let Texas do this."
The state is requesting funds for its "Healthy Texas Women" program, a state-run health program created after the Obama administration withdrew federal family planning funds from Texas for its efforts to illegally block federal Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood.
Healthy Texas Women is a family planning program that doesn't provide abortions, and critics have charged that it inadequately replaces other Planned Parenthood services as well.
The Guardian exclusively reported Friday:
[I]n a letter obtained by the Guardian, Texas officials ask the U.S. health department to fund its state program--the same one the state created after it defied federal laws that prohibit defunding Planned Parenthood.
In its letter, which is expected to be sent to the Trump administration as early as this week, Texas makes no indication that the state plans to comply with those laws and reinstate Planned Parenthood's funding.
This is despite a federal court ruling in February that issued a temporary injunction against Texas' attempts to bar Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood clinics.
"A half dozen other states have attempted to exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding. But only Texas, by giving up millions in such funding, has been successful," the Guardian notes.
If Texas succeeds in getting replacement federal funds from the (anti-women and anti-choice) Trump administration, that would signal to other states that they can break the law and defund Planned Parenthood without financial ramifications.
"It would let all of these states start kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid," Nash said. "And Medicaid is by far the largest form of public funding for family planning."
Medicaid funds pay for about 75 percent of publicly-funded family planning services across the country, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Texas is also attempting to defund Planned Parenthood by denying it Title X funding, as Common Dreams reported. Title X funds account for 10 percent of government family planning expenditures nationwide.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy