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There wasn’t much of a chance that the rider in the House Republican budget crossing out Planned Parenthood funding would have much of a chance of passing anyway, but now, 41 Senate Democrats, enough to block any legislation, have signed a letter opposing all riders to that effect in the budget. This makes it impossible to pass them as part of any deal. I’ve added the full letter below, but here’s an excerpt:
We know the Title X family planning program serves nearly five million low-income women and men at more than 4,500 health centers each year. Many of these people rely on Title X funded health care providers as their primary source of health care. Yet, the House-passed Continuing Resolution would eliminate all funding for Title X and leave millions of Americans at risk.
We also oppose the provision in the House-passed Continuing Resolution that cuts Planned Parenthood health centers off from federal funds used to provide cancer screenings, birth control and other preventive health care services to three million Americans every year.
Senators Akaka (D-HI), Baucus (D-MT), Begich (D-AK), Bennet (D-CO), Bingaman (D-NM), Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Boxer (D-CA), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD), Coons (D-DE), Feinstein (D-CA), Franken (D-MN), Gillibrand (D-NY), Hagan (D-NC), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Kerry (D-MA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Kohl (D-WI), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (I-CT), McCaskill (D-MO), Menendez (D-NJ), Merkley (D-OR), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Reed (D-RI), Sanders (I-VT), Shaheen (D-NH), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), Mark Udall (D-CO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Warner (D-VA), Webb (D-VA), Whitehouse (D-RI) and Wyden (D-OR) signed the letter.
Over 800,000 Americans have signed a petition rejecting the Planned Parenthood cuts in the House GOP budget.
Some House Republicans have said that they wouldn’t vote for a continuing resolution without the cuts to Planned Parenthood funding, so this makes an impasse more likely.
Ultimately, it’s quite a small needle that Democratic and Republican will have to thread if they want to keep the government funded beyond April 8. And that’s the easy budget conundrum: in the next budget, Republicans want to privatize Medicare and block grant Medicaid.
The full letter:
Dear Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell:
During this economic downturn, many women and families are struggling to make ends meet, and are relying on women’s health and family planning centers for access to essential health care services such as breast exams, other cancer and disease screenings, contraception and more.
We write to you today to affirm our strong support for making women’s health and family planning services affordable and available, and ask that you stand with us against extreme proposals by some Members of the House to eliminate support for women’s health and family planning programs and providers that serve millions of women and families.
We know the Title X family planning program serves nearly five million low-income women and men at more than 4,500 health centers each year. Many of these people rely on Title X funded health care providers as their primary source of health care. Yet, the House-passed Continuing Resolution would eliminate all funding for Title X and leave millions of Americans at risk.
We also oppose the provision in the House-passed Continuing Resolution that cuts Planned Parenthood health centers off from federal funds used to provide cancer screenings, birth control and other preventive health care services to three million Americans every year.
Without access to these services, many of these women will be unable to get preventive screenings, be at far greater risk for diseases such as cancer and will face more unintended pregnancies.
Protecting women’s health is a goal we can all agree on. We urge you to stand with us against extreme proposals by some Members of the House that would harm women and their families.
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How many Democratic Senators pledged to block a PO-less health bill?
How many of them actually did?
Wow! Talk about Republican over-reach!!! Lots of people actually believe that women should be able to prevent pregnancies, if they wish… too bad the GOP is on the warpath against women.
Wonder how GOP women feel about this attempt to keep them barefoot and pregnant, too…
I don’t know….but Im still proud of the letter.
We take what we can get. I would have preferred the Dems write a letter opposing all the noxious riders from the Tea Party GOP – defunding the Affordable Care Act (although that’s debatable since it’s a piece of shit legislation); defunding EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases..
This article mentions a few other riders, and that, according to CBO analysis, the riders may actually result in increased gov’t spending.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/30/riders-gop/
For the record: (from Wikipedia) “…the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 was passed to allow the President of the United States to veto single objectionable items within bills passed by Congress, but the law was struck down by the United States Supreme Court as unconstitutional in Clinton v. City of New York.”
Wonder how GOP women feel about this attempt to keep them barefoot and pregnant, too…
GOP women have sex?
This’ll pass and PP will be defunded. That’s my prediction. PP, like NPR/PBS, has been a big boogeyman on the right. PP is viewed as the incarnation of evil, which *encourages* and *assists* unwed teens to have sexy time constantly.
No, it doesn’t make any sense, but that’s how it’s been portrayed by Doug Coe’s evil C Street “Family” of “churches.” Why? To force women to be oppressed and under the thumb of men. I could go on at length, but time for my evening walkies.
It’s all typical rightwing hypocrisy bc anyone who’s ever worked for PP can tell you numerous times when some rightwinger’s been out front shrieking & protesting PP and abortion one day, and then sneaking in the back door the next day to either get an abortion, personally, or obtain one for their sister/wife/daughter/niece, etc.
It’s b.s., but of course the upper crust rightwingers don’t give a sh*t cuz they can get their birth control and abortions somewhere else. This is all about disenfranchising the poor and women and minorities… and then being smugly and judgementally able to diss and preach and be all self-righteously indignant when poor teens get pregnant.
Logic doesnn’t apply here. It’s disgusting. It’s the outcome of years of pushing for this, and too many women, I’m sad to say, have turned their heads and looked the other way and refused to fight hard enough for their rights.
Sorry to see this happen; unsurprised. The Dems will CAVE and cave big-time. Putzes, one and all.
Most GOP women in the House, Senate and Tea Farty are a lot like female terrorists…something snapped…more dangerous than male terrorists. Women keeping other women and children down is very creepy.
That letter will really tug at Mitch McConnell’s heart strings. I can see the tears welling up in his reptile eyes.
Harry Reid, too. He’s another soft touch. He’s got a real big heart for AT&T.
As a kid, The Boxer, Harry swam in the Nevada Hotel pools. There were prostitutes. They inspired him in his career choice.
Athenae is upstairs!
Late Night: How Did YOU Get In Here?
Hmm, so the Dems have a spine after all.
A very thin and fragile one which they don’t flex very often.
Interesting that our slug of a senator, Inouye, did not sign the letter.
He is such slime. Just got re-elected. Runs everything Democratic in Hawaii.
WTF, we couldn’t get 41 Senators to pledge to protect Social Security, but they’ll pledge to protect Planned Parenthood! Don’t get me wrong, I support Planned Parenthood, but something just doesn’t make sense.
Because there is a massive piggy bank to raid with SS. Not so with PP.