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Trump's GOP Finalizing Plans to Strip Funding From Planned Parenthood
For the one millionth time, federal funding to Planned Parenthood is not permitted to and does not fund abortions. This is an attempt to destroy their organization which performs incredibly crucial services. The vital, life-saving role of Planned Parenthood for millions of women is not properly reported or understood by most.
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.
...government money is 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.
Republicans are playing politics with the health and well-being of millions of women in a sick attempt to energize their base and win elections.
The Trump administration on Friday released a final version of a rule barring clinics that provide or refer patients for abortions from getting federal family planning funds. The rule...bars Planned Parenthood and any other provider that performs abortions or offers abortion referrals from receiving funding under Title X, which pays for birth control and other family planning services for low-income patients.
The new rule, posted on Friday on the website of the Department of Health and Human Services, requires that providers that receive Title X funds be both physically and financially separate from any entity that provides or refers for abortions. That means that because some Planned Parenthood health centers perform abortions, all Planned Parenthood centers are barred from getting Title X funding.
The rule was first proposed in May 2018, but did not go into effect at that time. The version published on Friday is technically a draft of the final rule, and could still be changed before its official publication in the Federal Register, which will likely take place in the coming days. The rule will take effect 60 days after official publication.
The GOP and White House will continue to target Planned Parenthood in any way possible. They continue to demonstrate a mind-numbing lack of understanding about the mission of and services provided by Planned Parenthood.
The rule is one of a number of moves by the Trump administration that critics say will restrict access to contraception and abortion. It also comes as the Trump ramps up his rhetoric on abortion, which he may see as a winning issue for him and the Republican Party in 2020.
“The administration’s action will do irreparable harm to the public’s health and damage the network of highly qualified family planning providers across the country,” said Clare Coleman, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, in a statement to media on Friday. Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the rule “unconscionable and unethical.”
Sources:
http://smartdissent.com/article/trumps-people-find-new-way-defund-planned-parenthood