[Wamvan] Assault on Reproductive Health Services Shifts to States

[Tami Starlight]

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56732

Assault on Reproductive Health Services Shifts to States
By Inaki Borda

NEW YORK, Aug 3, 2011 (IPS) - With Republican-led efforts to divert
funding from the reproductive health provider Planned Parenthood
stumbling in Washington, the battle has moved to the states, with
mixed results.

In February, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that
would have stripped federal Title X funding from Planned Parenthood,
cutting money for contraceptives, HIV tests, breast cancer screenings
and reproductive health services for predominantly low-income
patients.

The main justification for this defunding was, according to
Republicans, to prevent Planned Parenthood from using taxpayer money
to carry out abortions.

"Nobody is saying Planned Parenthood can't be the leading advocate of
abortion on demand, but why do I have to pay for it?" declared Rep.
Mike Pence, who introduced the amendment.

However, federal law already prohibits Planned Parenthood from
performing abortions using government funding.

In April, the Senate blocked that bill, with a vote overwhelmingly
along party lines.

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of
America (PPFA), called proponents of the bill "extremists" who are
attacking "critical health services with a new vote against Planned
Parenthood".

PPFA notes that it provides four million tests and treatments for
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, annually. It also
boasts a million cervical cancer screenings and 830,000 breast exams
each year.

Republican lawmakers in five states - Indiana, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Wisconsin and Kansas - have since defunded Planned
Parenthood in their 2011 legislative sessions.

The organisation has already filed lawsuits challenging those budget
cuts in North Carolina, Kansas and Indiana.

Texas also passed a bill that puts Planned Parenthood at the bottom of
the priority list for state funds.

What is more, a McKinney Planned Parenthood office in Texas was
attacked with a Molotov cocktail last week. This local office does not
offer abortion procedures.

One of the most polemic resolutions took place in New Hampshire, where
the state's executive council, comprised of five Republicans, rejected
up to 1.8 million dollars in funding for the Planned Parenthood of
Northern New England, which provides privately funded abortions.

The decision is expected to affect an average of 120 low-income women,
as well as a large number of uninsured people.

"Patients who used to be able to come to us for their pills now have
to walk away," said Jennifer Frizzell, a spokeswoman for Planned
Parenthood of Northern New England.

State and federal funds made up about 20 percent of the Planned
Parenthood's annual budget in New Hampshire.

Frizzell said the group is considering filing suit, because "If this
funding isn't restored, we may have to start closing centres."

In New York City, some of most aggressive assaults on Planned
Parenthood have been waged by the so-called crisis pregnancy centres,
like Expectant Mother Care (EMC)-Front Line and Life Centres, whose
main purpose is to counsel women against having abortions.

In July, a New York City law that would require pregnancy centres to
disclose more information about their services was blocked by a
Manhattan federal court judge.

According to a press release issued by Joan Malin, president and CEO
of Planned Parenthood in New York (PPNY), crisis pregnancy centres
masquerade as licensed medical facilities. She added that they collect
personal and health insurance information and offer services like
ultrasounds, which lead women to mistakenly believe they are visiting
a medical centre, when they are not.

"As one of the largest reproductive health care providers in New York
City we have all too often seen the impact of deceptive practices by
crisis pregnancy centres first hand," Malin said.

Under the premise that these pregnancy centres do not show all the
possible options to women, Local Law 17, signed by Mayor Michael
Bloomberg in May and supported by City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, would require these centres to "post signs in the lobbies of
their counseling centres, add extensive additional written language to
their advertising materials, and to provide oral statements during
both 'in person' and telephonic conversations regarding the services
offered by crisis pregnancy centres," according to ACJU, one of the
counsels for the plaintiffs.

Last month, the law was struck down by Judge William Pauley as
"unconstitutionally vague", although he conceded the harm that can be
caused to pregnant, at-risk women by unlicensed ultrasound technicians
"operating in pseudo-medical settings".

"We think this is a resounding defeat of the Gestapo-like tactics of
Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg," Chris Slattery, director and
founder of Expectant Mother Care (EMC)-Front Line, told IPS.

"Cutting Planned Parenthood funding is good because it hurts their
ability to offer and expand abortions, and there are many county and
town agencies to provide needed women's services in their absence," he
said.

EMC was one of the plaintiffs in the case.

"This is one of the most important First Amendment decisions in
American history, and will very strongly boost pro-life free speech
initiatives and protect pregnancy centres not only here in New York,
but across America," he added.

Backers of the law plan to appeal Judge Pauley's ruling. Councilwoman
Jessica Lappin, the law's lead sponsor, told IPS in an e-mail, "The
judge got it wrong. Disappointed but not discouraged."

(END)

--
"Until all of us are free, the few who think they are remain tainted
with enslavement." Lee Maracle

Tami
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