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Planned Parenthood Sues Trump to Protect Low Income Women and Girls
The GOP and White House continue to target Planned Parenthood in any way possible. They continuing to demonstrate a mind-numbing lack of understanding about the mission of and services provided by Planned Parenthood.
The bulk of federal money Planned Parenthood receives, though, goes toward preventive health care, birth control, pregnancy tests and other women's health services. Federal law prohibits taxpayer dollars from funding abortions and Planned Parenthood says 3% of the services it provides are abortions.
Three national reproductive rights groups are suing the Trump administration, arguing that changes to the federal Title X program will put the health of millions of low-income patients at risk by prioritizing practices such as the rhythm method over comprehensive sexual health services.
The lawsuits filed Wednesday [May 2, 2018].... focus on guidance issued in February by the Department of Health and Human Services.... The document, known as a Federal Opportunity Announcement, calls for a broad range of family planning services and makes multiple mentions of "fertility awareness" — also known as the rhythm method or natural family planning....
The reason this is significant is the FOA, issued by our own health department, is based not on medical practices but on religious orthodoxy. It is a radical shift that could have a big impact on people's health.
...language in the document that talks about "the benefits of avoiding sexual risk or returning to a sexually risk-free status, especially (but not only) when communicating with adolescents" — which some see as coded language aimed promoting abstinence only until marriage, even for adult women.
Clare Coleman, president & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, in a statement to NPR called the Trump administration's approach "disrespectful" to low-income patients and said it undermines Title X "by shifting to a narrow, ideological vision of how people should live their lives: no sex until marriage; family participation at all ages; and natural family planning methods first and foremost."
That's right, Republican leadership telling people how to live their lives -- those same people who love to claim government should stay out of our lives.
Planned Parenthood serves a majority of patients who receive services such as contraception and STD and cancer screenings through Title X.
Under current law, federal funding for abortion is already illegal in most situations. But abortion-rights opponents see Planned Parenthood as a major foe, given that about 1 in 3 abortions performed in the United States is provided by the organization's affiliates.
The vital, life-saving role of Planned Parenthood for millions of women is not properly reported or understood by most.
...government money rarely goes to [abortions]. In fact, it’s designated for services like cancer screens that saved nearly 88,000 lives between the fall of 2012 and 2013. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 44,390 women will die from breast and cervical cancers this year. But Planned Parenthood detected cancers early and identified abnormalities in nearly double that amount of women through breast exams and Pap tests... the reproductive health services organization saw 2.7 million patients last year and provided nearly 500,000 breast exams and nearly 400,000 Pap tests... Defunding the non-profit at the federal level would thereby endanger the lives of 900,000 women.
Sources:
http://smartdissent.com/article/trump-privately-signs-anti-planned-parenthood-bill