Planned Parenthood Is Officially in Trouble
Well, this sucks.
House Speaker Paul Ryan announced yesterday that as part of their efforts to overturn Obamacare, Republicans will be moving to cut all funding from Planned Parenthood, according to CNN.
This isn’t a total shock, considering all the crazy shit Republicans have been doing since Trump officially won the election — and since, like, ever. But it’s still a huge bummer.
READ ALSO: Ohio & Texas Just Made Getting an Abortion Even Harder
You might be thinking, “I thought Planned Parenthood was already defunded by the government,” because the Republicans keep bringing it up at every damn congressional meeting. But currently, the funding of PP is by state, so some states still fund the women’s healthcare center (with the exception of abortions, which are never funded by taxpayers except in rare cases), while some do not.
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Ryan’s announcement confirms Trump’s platform that he was flip-flopping on earlier, and says the Republicans are going to do everything in their power to defund the centers worldwide.
READ ALSO: Reminder: The Abortion Pill Is Super Painful
The crazy thing is, as mentioned earlier, the government doesn’t fund abortions regardless except in very, very rare cases. So essentially, by working so hard to defund Planned Parenthood, Republicans are acknowledging that this isn’t even about abortions, it’s about taking away accessible healthcare from women. Cool!
This isn’t the first time conservatives have tried this, as they also attempted to add in a Planned Parenthood defunding clause when they tried to repeal Obamacare last year. But considering how the government will be under a Republican majority this year, it’s a much scarier possibility.
If their efforts succeed, roughly $400 million in Medicaid money would be taken away, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Close to 400,000 women would lose their access to healthcare, according to the Associated Press.
So what would they do with all that money? Republicans plan to use the money to fund community health centers instead, because women do not deserve to have anything specifically for their needs, right? Supporters of Planned Parenthood also argue that many women who are denied Medicaid from Planned Parenthood would not be able to afford care at these community health centers, according to AP.
Senator Patty Murray, a democrat from Washington, predicts that Democrats might win the vote because many Republicans who may have voted for the bill last year can no longer depend on Obama’s vetoing of the bill, as he did last time, according to AP.
We hope he’s right, but in the mean time, stay safe. Consider getting an IUD while you still can, and let your voice be heard.
