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Trump Privately Signs Anti-Planned Parenthood Bill
Continuing to demonstrate a mind-numbing lack of understanding about the mission of and services provided by Planned Parenthood, Trump signed a bill into law in private on April 13th that allows states to withhold federal money from organizations that provide abortion services, including Planned Parenthood.
The bill, which the usually camera-friendly President signed without any media present, reverses an Obama-era regulation that prohibited states from withholding money from facilities that perform abortions, arguing that many of these facilities also provide other family planning and medical services.
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.
The GOP and White House continue to target Planned Parenthood in any way possible.
The Republican health care bill, which was fully backed by the White House, would have defunded Planned Parenthood.
House Speaker Paul Ryan called the signing a "a major pro-life victory."
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.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/politics/donald-trump-planned-parenthood-money/