Emboldened by recent wins at the polls, House Republicans, led by Rep. Stearns of Florida has demanded 10 years worth of records from Planned Parenthood in order to shut them down. 

I thought McCarthyism was over.  Congress wastes more time getting involved in football, baseball, steroid use with atheletes and women’s reproduction.  They need to work on the economy and creating jobs.

14 Thoughts to “Congress targets Planned Parenthood”

  1. El Guapo

    Abortion is an important issue to many Republican voters. Planned Parenthood has been labeled as an evil pro-abortion organization. If a Republican politician gets up and hollers and screams about Planned Parenthood, then they can go back to their districts and tell people how hard they’re fighting against abortion. Most constituents buy it.

  2. Afraid you are correct, El Guapo. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood provides birth control and medical services (having nothing to do with abortion) to millions of lower income women and couples yearly.

    The cognitive dissonance on all this is astounding. When these same Republicans want to dry up medicaid and other social welfare programs they need to think about who is going to pay for all the unwanted and unaffordable children they will end up having to pay for when they cut off birth control services.

  3. Birth control is expensive. Out of pocket it is about $50 bucks a month. The cost alone encourages low income women to play Russian Roulette.

    The religious folks who oppose birth control can suck it up and accept that they are not the mainstream and that no one else holds their beliefs. In my world, having unlimited children that you cannot afford is simply IMMORAL.

  4. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Interesting argument….”Birth Control is expensive….so we should pay for everyone else’s!”
    Now, that being said…there are 100,000 things they could just as easily cut before planned parenthood, but that’s politics, isn’t it?

  5. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Interesting argument….”Birth Control is expensive….so we should pay for everyone else’s!”
    Now, that being said…there are 100,000 things they could just as easily cut before planned parenthood, but that’s politics, isn’t it?

  6. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Interesting argument….”Birth Control is expensive….so we should pay for everyone else’s!”
    Now, that being said…there are 100,000 things they could just as easily cut before planned parenthood, but that’s politics, isn’t it?

  7. @SlowpokeRodriguez

    I am speaking of medicaid reimbursement. Planned Parenthood provides services cheaper than private physicians. You are going to be paying for it one way or the other if it is a medicaid reimbursement.

    If you shut down planned parenthood, you are going to be shutting out a lot of lower income folks who are not on medicaid.

  8. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Well, like I said (3 times, apparently) there are plenty more places that need to be cut before we should get around to planned parenthood.

  9. Ray Beverage

    Ten years of records…wow. Gee, what would Congress do if PP follows the standard periodicity where records (depending on type) are destroyed by a schedule. At the moment, very few permanent or long-term records I can think of. Maybe contracts/grants since those are seven years. But most program and admin files are three years. Bet there will be grandstanding by House Republicans saying PP did not produce request, regardless of the legal procedures for record destruction.

    1. Congress really needs to stay out of the accounting business and athletics. They are disgusting.

      Ray, I expect the grand standing will be high political theater. BArf.

  10. George S. Harris

    Republicans will continue as long as the American people keep them in office. Ray’s point about the life of records is a good one–it will be interesting to watch this new soap ope rat now that “All My Children” has gone off the air.

  11. Pat.Herve

    yup, the R’s are going after the pennies, while spending the dollars.

    This Congressman will go home, and say all he has done to shut down PP, all the while, the spending continues – by both the R’s and D’s.

  12. Actually, politicians are very sneaky about PP funds. They act like they are just giving them money rather than reimbursing medicaid costs.

  13. @Moon-howler

    Congress really needs to stay out of the accounting business and athletics. They are disgusting.

    I would venture to say that they need to stay out of more than just that. People say “counting pennies while spending dollars” and in a sense I agree, however, those pennies will start to add up as we collect more and more. Like Slowpoke said, there 100,000 things to cut, but hey, as long as we make a start, I’ll go with it.

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