On many different occassions I have shared the fact, that while attending Marymount University, a Catholic school, I did my internship at Planned Parenthood. So, for all this talk about abortion abortion abortion, let me share some facts in order to paint a more accurate picture of ALL the critical services that Planned Parenthood provides.
The clinic I worked in did not provide abortion services. On a sliding fee scale, based on income, women and men, of all ages, came to the clinic. Although most were women, men also used the services for STD screening and HIV testing. The women who worked at this clinic were amazing. No one “pushed abortion” what they “pushed” was EDUCATION. Their goal was to empower women and men, to be safe, whether it meant HIV, STD, or pregnancy prevention. The level of service was as professional as any doctor’s office I have seen. Their goal was comprehensive care in a non judgemental environment.
Did you know that the Human Papiloma Virus, an STD, if left untreated can cause cervical cancer? How do you SAVE womens lives, a simple test, one that the clinice I worked in performed ALL the time.
In countries where women cannot get routine Pap tests, cervical cancer is much more common. In fact, cervical cancer is the major cause of cancer deaths in women in any developing countries. These cases are usually diagnosed at a late (invasive) stage, rather than as pre-cancers or early cancers.
Not all American women take advantage of the benefits of Pap test screening. Between 60% and 80% of American women who are diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer have not had a Pap test in the past 5 years. In fact, many of these women have never had a Pap test. In particular, elderly, African-American, and/or low-income women and women who are recent immigrants are less likely to have regular Pap tests.
My experience there was amazing. The people who worked there truly cared about the health of the people that walked through their door. Their goal was to PREVENT unwanted pregancies and STD’s. Their counseling for HIV testing was compassionate and professional. Not one person was given their results over the phone, whether negative or positive, you had to come in and speak with a counselor. Other services included dispensing birth control pills and offering condoms for free!
Cutting funds to Planned Parenthood is detrimental for the health can well being of women and men in this country. On one hand we all recognize that insurance premiums area often out of reach for many people, Planned Parenthood provides a critical service at an affordable rate, they are able to fill a need. Abortion is not what we are talking about when you simply use a broad brush to deny funding to Planned Parenthood, the care this organiation has provided to women and men for decades has been critical.
I am personally disgusted at the level of ignorance to what Planned Parenthood provides, that I am feeling very hopeless at this point. This is not about the budget, this is about an ideology that is attempting to trump the well being of ALL Americans.
editors note: This IS NOT a budget issue. The title X money Planned Parenthood recieves is reimbursement for comprehenisve family planning services. The government will still have 300,000 million dollars in Title X money, it just cannot be used for Planned Parenthood services.
What Is Title X?
Title X (ten) of the Public Service Act is a federal grant program signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based reproductive health research center, the law had broad bipartisan support and was the result of increasing concerns that low-income women were not able to get access to family planning services and had higher rates of unwanted pregnancies than more affluent women.
Title X grants, which are administered through state health departments or regional agencies, support family planning programs in 4,500 clinics serving 5 million individuals across the country. The funds, which totaled $317 million last year, are used to provide a range of reproductive health and family planning services primarily to low-income individuals. The program is run by the Department of Health and Human Services and provides funding for contraceptive counseling and supplies, STD testing, breast and cervical cancer screenings, vasectomies, hypertension and blood pressure measurement, prenatal care and sex education.
Let me offer this compromise, keep the money in the budget that was going to Planned Parenthood. But just don’t give it to Planned Parenthood, instead give it to other women’s clinics/doctors/hospitals that offer the same services but do not offer abortions. There problem solved, that took all of 30 seconds to think of an type.
Now, if you want to be honest about this whole thing then call a spade a spade. Democrats are the only ones to blame here. They should have passed a budget when they had a super majority. Hell, that could have passed a budget that tripled the amount that Planned Parenthood gets. I’m not even going to mention that the Democrat led Senate has yet to even propose a bill of their own let alone pass one. But they didn’t and now the sole reason the government is going to shut down is because newly elected tea party candidates “came to Washington to kill women”.
You know what I would LOVE to see, I would LOVE to see anyone on any major news network ask a Democrat why exactly they didn’t pass a bill when they should have and easily could have? Why didn’t they do their jobs and why now are they cowards sitting back and pointing fingers.
I was really frustrated by this but now I’m not. This is just your everyday liberal thinking. Screw something up really bad and never take the blame for it, just point the finger and the guy next to you. Democrats made the bed, they should sleep in it.
Since nobody is going to ask a Democrat on any major news network why they decided it was a great idea to not pass a budget when they were supposed to Ill ask you Moon and Elena. This issue is clearly important to you, and everyone in the U.S. now since it’s apparently the sole reason for shutting down government:
1.) Why didn’t Democrats pass a budget sooner?
2.) Are you even the least bit upset with them for creating this mess when it could have so easily been avoided?
3.) When are you going to point out the heated, absurd rhetoric coming from the left about a shut down? I’ve seen here multiple requests for tea party/conservatives/Republicans to ‘change their tone’ but have you heard what Dems are saying out there?
It runs the whole gambit, anywhere from Republicans want to kill women, to they hate children. The tone from the left is just out of this world, when is someone going to call them out on it?
Well Dan, here’s a wee story about a Texas Gal who took your “solution” by going to their OTHER clinics to get her medical care….
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2011/04/05/where-will-health-care-when-family-planning-funds-thing-past
Seems as if wherever she TRIED to go, she couldn’t get in, was prosletyzed to for wanting BC and the costs became to prohibitive. Hmmm….YET if she made an appointment at PP, they could see her that AFTERNOON and charge her a lower fee on a sliding scale.
But your approach and analysis is 100% spot on. Women should go elsewhere and it is all the Democrats’ fault. The GOP is the real victim here, trying to cut everything for the people and making sure their corporate donors pay little to no tax and can operate without any labor, environmental or regulatory “hindrances.”
Yes, the tone on the left is absurd… It makes perfect sense, and sounds completely humanitarian when the GOP openly admits it wishes to end medicare in 10 years, wishes to deny women funding for pap smears and breast exams, and wants to shut down social Security. Those damn wimminz, old fogies and kids shoudn’t be so damn needy. I mean I can TOTALLY see where you are coming from on the Left being so OUT THERE and not called on for it. Sheesh. The GOP should just be able to do whatever it pleases and never be called on for hypocricy or greed. No siree….
Farts make better points than the GOP or Teabaggers.
And Elena –
WELL SAID.
What’s with liberals and human shields? Got any stories about little old ladies that have to wear their dead sister’s dentures?
@Dan
Absolutely not. Abortion is a legal service. There is no reason that women can’t go to Planned Parenthood for services other than, like PBS, it has been targeted by the Religious Right who came in to the tea party like wolves in sheep’s clothing.
If you respect from mainstream America as a fiscally conservative movement, get those rid of the culture warriors. Stop being hypocritical and make it really about money.
I hope that veto pen is full of ink.
I heard some D-Bag in Congress today say if you vote against this bill you vote against the troops. How effen stupid. No, if you vote against the bill you vote against the bill. It all boils down to someone trying to control what happens to other people. Stop being D-bags and the troops will get paid, along with all the other people who don’t deserve to loose their pay.
Well, with the GOP plan to eliminate medicare, I am sure that I can find one for you very, VERY soon….
Like ObamaCare??
@Slowpoke, very bad analogy. You do realize that it is health care costs that are bankrupting the country?
NO one is telling you that you cannot have health care. That’s one difference. the other difference is apples and oranges.
All BS aside, Republicans should drop the Planned Parenthood thing….that was a loser from the start. For all I know they may have already dropped it behind closed doors. Defunding ObamaCare, NPR, and EPA, yep, absolutely worth sticking to, but defunding PP in DC is nothing, just a loser.
@Cargo,
What on earth do you have against PBS? I can’t think of anything better for the country. It has taught millions of kids to count and sing the alphabet. It produces great shows without commercial.
Many people can’t afford premium channels and even if they can, PBS has a different kind of show. You don’t have to worry that your kids are going to see them and they are broadcast over the airwaves.
If abortion and PP are that much of an issue, then decision making on those programs should be handled separately. In fact, it seems to me that we should at least be able to get consensus on 80% of all the issues. Okay, fine. Then approve 80% of the budget, thank you very much, get most of the agencies up and running, stop screwing us over and fight about the remaining 20% over the next few months.
800,000 people are being directly and negatively affected by this shut down. And you can bet none of the idiots in Congress are among those 800,000.
The radical republicans know they cannot push defunding of PP and PBS through. So they sneak.
I have no idea why they think it is going to stop abortion. It wont. And the PP funding has nothing to do with abortion in reality.
But, the fantasy world version is all about abortion. The govt. shuts down because some radical republicans think that they are stopping abortion.
Holy cats. Deliver us from ignorance.
@Not Me, Bubba
Health Care should be left to the states, anyway. Nothing in the Constitution about Medicare. And crying about entitlements is soooo last congress.
Just out of curiosity….how much do you pay for health care, Slowpoke?
You are aware that many people are without because they cannot afford it? Mine is $500 out of pocket. That is a big bite.
Just ask Mitt-for-Brains Romney about Health Care and states.
Well, just think about how happy the News outlets are….they’ve got something to sensationalize for a while!
Well since Internet governance, corporate loopholes, the Eisenhower Interstate System, and genetic engineering aren’t in the constitution – none of those should get federal funding/approval/regulation either?
The next time you enjoy your silence due to the Do Not Call Registry, just remember interstate digital communication isn’t in the constitution either…..so as a patriotic american you will rescind your DNC order, right?
Nothing about the Stars Spangled Banner or the Pledge of Allegiance in the Constitution either. Let’s get rid of them, pronto.
Also there is no Constitutional permission to have In God We Trust on money either. Scrape it off.
That ‘it isn’t in the Constitution’ is just silly and used for convenience.
On the upside, gas prices may fall as a good sized portion of the work force is idled.
The commute will be easier. However, it will cost the country a fortune.
Gas prices are due to speculation for the most part.
Slowpoke,
Obviously you and your loved one have insurance, what about those who do not, and by the way, there are 50 million of the “those” who don’t have insurance. What kind of fiscal conservative does not see the common sense in investing a little now to save alot later? Whether it be unwanted pregnancy, cancer, or illness, all those require health care services! Only a comlete lack of common sense would support not preventative care. Pay now or pay later…….pay later usually means its alot more expensive.
@Not Me, Bubba
thank you!
Dan,
With Ted Kennedy’s death and the rise of the angry mob mentality of the TEA party, there was no longer a super majority in the senate and there was no way to shove a budget down the republicans throat like healthcare. It was going to take two to tango. Can you say “fillibuster”?
Furthermore, why the hell does it require a super effing majority to have sane budget talks! Let me say this a little slower Dan, there is NO BUDGET saving by screwing title X money from Planned Parenthood.
I agree with Slow here, drop PP. I was just offering a compromise. That being said… Ill ask you both, or anyone else here tonight:
1.) Why didn’t Democrats pass a budget sooner?
2.) Are you even the least bit upset with them for creating this mess when it could have so easily been avoided?
3.) When are you going to point out the heated, absurd rhetoric coming from the left about a shut down?
Still waiting on anyone to answer… Moon…. Elena?
I LOVE how Not me Bubba, Moon and Elena had a much to say but for some reason couldn’t answer even one question I had. Okay, I was provided one response to my compromise and I honestly must agree with Slow, the Republicans should just drop the PP issue. That’s not a big deal in the bigger picture (money wise). To tell you the truth, I don’t even care that much about it. I am pro-choice.
Again, please, if you really do care about an honest debate about this subject just answer the darn question:
1.) Why didn’t Democrats pass a budget sooner?
2.) Are you even the least bit upset with them for creating this mess when it could have so easily been avoided?
Notice I even removed the question about the jack-a$$ rehtoric coming from the left. At this point I don’t give a damn, just tell me… why didn’t your side pass a budget when they were suppose to and are even just a tiny bit (holding hands up -pointer finger to thumb with a sliver of daylight between the two) upset for them creating this mess.
I consider you ladies to be pretty intelegent despite our political differences, at least answer the question. I’ve answered tough questions from you before (want me to remind you?).
I have no idea why Democrats or Republicans do anything nor do I speak for them. I hate political parties. I certainly don’t think the Democrats created this mess. I don’t even know what mess you are talking about. There are many messes out there.
I am pissed over any group who wants to defund Planned Parenthood, defund PBS. I don’t know enough about the EPA rules but….I expect that would piss me off also. I sort of like not having toxic crap dumped in rivers and poisonous smoke belching out of smoke stacks. Check out the Shenandoah Valley and its flora and fauna. Poisonous crap coming right down the pipeline from Canada. You can see the damage on the Skyline drive. But its all a myth….or so the Radical Republicans tell me.
I’ll tell you why, Dan – it’s because a drafted, proposed budget is a political gamble. Same thing the Repubs have done before. (GWB 1 to be precise) don’t publish a budget RIGHT BEFORE elections, or immediately afterwards. It gives the opposition too much to air over before the negotiation begins. A simple political trick neither side can claim immunity from.
Am I upset? Of course. I am upset that political fortune outweighed the budget. I am upset that political idological grandstanding is halting it. I am VERY pissed that Planned Parenthood is being targeted for an extremist, religion-based (mostly) fringe who are not only anti-abortion, but anti-birth conrol and sex education!
What people are NOT talking about in this whole mess – being distracted by the non-abortion side-show is teh ENVIRONMENT. What concessions were made there? Are the Oligarchs and Republicans going to frack their own water supply? Are they going to live near an oiil-shale refinery plant???? What ELSE is going on except defunding an organization being accused of spending fed $$$$ on abortions that DOES NOT, because they wish to defund an organization that does not fund abortions since 1977????
Oh and LOVE the “support the troops” bullhockey they threw into the mix to rile up the rabid. THEY the GOP threw that in, NOT the Democrats. And here you are booing the democrats – Democrats, for a save few – could give a crap, like the GOP of the average American Taxpayer…let alone the poor.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is so beyond PP. This is about imposing disaster capitalism upon thsi nation to further the interests of the globalist oligarchs. A government shutdown is what they want. Drown it in the bathtub is the term they liked so much….. Medicare, Social Security, Planned Parenthood, Environmental Regulations, Labor equality, and SO ON.
So if you don’t care, tune in to the royal wedding. Babble on about the latest Idol unfairness…. We are witnessing something extrordinary and God Help this nation recover. The future we once thought would be ours may be cancelled.
Someone hit the pause on the self-destruct…PLEASE.
Don’t bet on that.
stop gap measure to ensure new budget agreement has appropriate time to go through formal legislative process. It appears as though Planned Parenthood is not a part of this budget, nor is the EPA. We will have to wait for more details.
Yep…that’s good news. Can’t wait to hear about the details.
I think the news folks are pissed….they don’t get to drone on and on about this for weeks on end.
Well thank God for small miracles…but much has yet to be said……so no chicken counting by me!
I must say NotmeBubba, I don’t agree with most of what you had to say (as I’m sure you feel the same way) but it was VERY refreshing to FINALLY hear someone from your point of view actually express their true point of view. I really do respect that allot and I just wish others here would do the same.
From what you said: “don’t publish a budget RIGHT BEFORE elections, or immediately afterwards. It gives the opposition too much to air over before the negotiation begins. A simple political trick neither side can claim immunity from.
Am I upset? Of course. I am upset that political fortune outweighed the budget. I am upset that political idological grandstanding is halting it. I am VERY pissed that Planned Parenthood is being targeted for an extremist”
I do not disagree with your answer to question number about why Democrats didn’t pass a budget when they were supposed to. It’s just a bad move politically. But that does bring up another question(s) for you since you seem to be the only one willing to answer….
Isn’t that why Obama was elected, to change how Washington worked? Do you think Obama shares any blame for his lack of leadership over this? It’s becoming more and more apparent that even Democrats are questioning his leadership. He seems to be great at passing the buck, but not so good at…. leading.
Washington has worked the same way since the country began. Anyone who thinks it will change is nuts.
Do you really think Obama was elected to change how Washington worked? Bridge for sale. Not even close.
I voted for him simply because I figured he would have to appoint a supreme court justice. I figured after those last 2 Bush put on there we needed a different sort.
Whoa! Reid agreed to hold a vote in the Senate on repealing Obamacare. THAT ought to be interesting!
Slow, can you show a citation? I don’t see anything on my scope.. Are you sure that’s not PP being held for a seperate vote?
Would be interested to see……………… 🙂
Nevermind. I see it Slow. Interesting. I want to see more details.. I think the morning should provide more sunlight on what will happen.. 😉
Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t seen anything in this discussion about that fact that NO FEDERAL DOLLARS ARE SPENT ON ABORTONS–Hyde Amendment stopped that.
I agree with you Moon, “Not in the Constitution” is the lamest excuse in the world. Generally used by the Tenthers but also used by those who wouldn’t know male bovine merde if the stepped in it or had a mouthful of it.
But while we are on the subject, let’s also get rid of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan, the Federal Retirement System, the Federal Thrift Savings Plan, the Air Force and perhaps the Marines, NASA, NIH, participation in the UN, maybe foreign aid, block grants to the states, corporate welfare, farm subsidies and who know what else–NITC!! And the beat goes on.
George, I have been saying that the Hyde Amendment prevents federal tax dollars from being spent on abortion until I am blue in the face. I listed to Faux Friends this morning and heard the same toro merde ….it is like the hearing gene is broken. For something that has been around as long as the Hyde Amendment has been around, you would think someone would realize it. (1976 and it has undergone many revisions, each more restrictive than the last)
@Moon-howler
I was certain you had, just didn’t see it on this particular thread, but did see on “Tail Wagging the Dog”. But who wants to be concerned with facts? Apparently not the Teapublicans.
For all this talk about the Hyde Amendment:
Ireality, the Hyde Amendment is not a government-wide law — it applies only to funds appropriated through the annual appropriations bill that funds the Department of Health and Human Services.
Soooo, if the funds do not come from the DHHS, then, hey….there ya go.
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan, the Federal Retirement System, the Federal Thrift Savings Plan, the Air Force and perhaps the Marines, NASA, NIH, participation in the UN, maybe foreign aid, block grants to the states, corporate welfare, farm subsidies and who know what else–NITC!!
Well, the Air Force evolved from the authorized Army Air Corp. The Marines are part of the duly authorized Naval forces as is the Coast Guard. Social Security was authorized as a constitutional TAX. NASA and the rest….not so much as originally intended. However, I will grant that my lack of detailed knowledge on how the different programs are implemented, they may be, technically, constitutional.
But, probably not.
@Cargosquid
You are not correct. The Hyde Amendment is pretty all inclusive.
From ACLU:
Cargo, repeating it isn’t going to make it true. The Hyde Amendment has banned federal taxpayer funded abortion for decades. Someone is feeding you a line of crap. Why would I lie about it? I have done pro-choice work for over 25 years.
I don’t think that you are lying. Where is the funding coming from for those programs. If its the Dept of HHS, then the Hyde amendment affects it. HCR was getting funding from elsewhere for the subsidies on healthcare insurance which is why many said that abortions were getting covered by taxes in HCR.
If the funding comes from outside the DHHS, then the Hyde amendment does not apply. Now, OTHER restrictions might apply, as that article said.
“Congress had passed restrictions similar to the Hyde Amendment”