Texas defunds Planned Parenthood, defies Obama’s Medicaid cut-off threat
Pro-life crusader Kill Stanek cites the Texas Tribune,
If there was any hope that the state was seeking a compromise with the federal government over Texas’ Women’s Health Program, it’s fading fast.
At the direction of lawmakers and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Texas Health and Human Services commissioner signed a rule on Thursday that formally bans Planned Parenthood clinics and other “affiliates of abortion providers” from participating in the program – something the Obama administration has said is a deal-breaker for the nearly $40 million-per-year state-federal Medicaid program.
The rule, signed by Commissioner Tom Suehs on Thursday, takes effect March 14.
“Under federal law, states administer Medicaid and have the right to set the criteria for providers in the program. That is what Texas is doing,” said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the agency. “We have a state law that our Attorney General says is constitutional, and it clearly bans abortion providers from taking part in the Women’s Health Program. We can’t violate a perfectly valid state law just to appease Washington. We hope CMS will reverse its position and allow the program to continue.”
Unless some last-minute agreement is brokered, the program, which receives $9 in federal funds for every $1 in state funds, will be either phased out or cut off by the end of March. At least 130,000 poor Texas women will lose access to cancer screenings, well-woman exams and contraception.
“No one’s politics should interfere with a woman’s access to health care,” said Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast President and CEO Peter J. Durkin. “It is shameful that Governor Perry and Commissioner Suehs continue to politicize lifesaving breast cancer screenings and birth control access for low-income women.”
Republican lawmakers worked overtime last legislative session to design language that would keep any Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics from receiving state family planning and women’s health dollars, despite the fact that taxpayer-funded clinics may not perform abortions. They got the backing of Abbott, who said their efforts were legal, and gave the state’s health commissioner the go-ahead to implement the new language.
But when Texas was faced with renewing the Women’s Health Program this year, officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the state’s plans violated the Social Security Act. They gave the program a three-month extension, but said they had no intention of renewing if Planned Parenthood, which provides 44% of the program’s services, was blacklisted.
The stalemate appears unbreakable – Republican lawmakers have made clear they’d rather forgo the program and the federal money than allow Planned Parenthood to participate.
Stanek herself blasts PP’s pretense of fighting against those who “politicize lifesaving breast cancer screenings and birth control access.” This is exactly what PP does itself to justify the continued stream of tax-funding while also providing abortions. Stanek pulls back the curtain:
Cervical cancer is primarily caused by the Human papillomavirus, an incurable STD.
And if women stopped getting abortions and taking artificial steroids (birth control pills), breast cancer would decrease dramatically.
Planned Parenthood pimps all it claims to cure.