What We're Reading This Morning -- May 9
Spread the word
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Good morning everyone! Busy day today, so we’ll head straight to what we’re reading and what we’re watching this morning….
Award-winning actress and Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon not only narrated our video — reflecting on the one-year anniversary of the defeat of the Pence amendment to ban federal funding of Planned Parenthood — but she went on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight to discuss why women are watching in the 2012 election. Watch the clip of Cynthia:
House Republican, Congressman Robert Dold, reminds us that protecting women’s health should be a priority for Democrats and Republicans — it shouldn’t be a partisan issue. “House GOP freshman to defend Planned Parenthood at presser” — “Freshman Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.) is coming to the defense of Planned Parenthood amid his party’s sustained assault on the organization. Dold plans to introduce a bill Wednesday that would ensure Planned Parenthood’s access to federal funding. House Republicans have pushed to defund Planned Parenthood, and conservative governors have picked up where the federal effort failed. ‘In response to the growing number of efforts to discriminate against and exclude organizations like Planned Parenthood from participating in health care programs, Dold’s legislation would protect the inclusion of any hospital or health care entity that seeks to participate in the Title X family planning program,’ his office said in a release. Planned Parenthood is scheduled to join Dold at a press conference Wednesday morning.”
What New Hampshire House Republicans were prepared to do and what it would mean for women in the Granite State. From the Concord Monitor: “Where did Planned Parenthood assault come from?” — “Last month, in a notable act of political courage, 12 Republicans joined all five Democrats in the New Hampshire Senate to save access to health care for thousands of women and teens. Their action averted financial disaster for the state's health economy…. Here's the collateral damage that 207 House members (including one Democrat) and six senators who voted for HB 228 were prepared to accept: Sixteen thousand mostly lower-income women and teenagers would no longer receive the 6,700 breast and cervical cancer screenings, 20,500 tests for sexually transmitted diseases, and the 4,600 pregnancy tests that six Planned Parenthood clinics provided here last year at little or no cost to patients — along with family planning and contraception services that help reduce the need for abortions. All this to score ideological points and punish Planned Parenthood for providing abortion care, using strictly private funds, for women in need. Moreover, the state Department of Health and Human Services made clear in a ’fiscal note’ attached to HB 228 that if it became law, $700 million in federal Medicaid funding would likely be terminated, not merely shutting down Planned Parenthood clinics but jeopardizing the finances of 25 hospitals that provide privately paid abortion services and damaging much else in the state's health economy.”
