The Politics of Family Planning
April 16th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
For the past five years, every legislative session, certain Republican legislators monkey with women’s health. These pro-life Republicans hate Planned Parenthood with a passion. On the Senate side, Senator Tommy Williams and Senator Bob Deuell have passed the most legislation undoing women’s health choices in Texas. On the House side we have Rep. Warren Chisum and Rep. Dan Gattis among others to thank for fewer health care options.
On Wednesday, the NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Foundation held a Capitol press conference to draw attention to one such travesty authored by Senator Williams. What his budget rider passed during the 2007 session did is funnel $5 million of our tax dollars from family planning services to unlicensed and un-regulated Crisis Pregnancy Centers. These centers are the ones that sponsor those billboards all over the state that read “Pregnant? In need of Help?” They usually have a picture of a weeping Madonna and an 800 number at the bottom.
Well, there’s your women’s health services funding going down the drain. And this is in a state where we rank No. 46 in the nation in women’s health. We are also No. 2 in teenage births and No. 5 in teenage pregnancies, according to a NARAL Pro-choice Texas Foundation report released at the press conference today. Crisis Pregnancy Centers are often staffed by non-medical volunteers and often heavily religious. Their services boil down to a hotline where they advocate against abortion and for adoption.
Last session, Sen. Deuell also diverted millions from family planning services to federally qualified health centers. While FQHC’s are great, they have no history of providing family planning services. As a result, they had to return a good portion of the state funding. “This should be about health care for women and not about Planned Parenthood the Corporation,” says Laurie Felker Jones, spokesperson for NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Foundation.
Even some pro-life supporters realize that these programs targeted at abortion clinics are instead hurting family planning and women across the state. At least 17,000 women could have received check ups and family planning services with the money that has been redirected to these crisis pregnancy centers.
Senator Judith Zaffirini, a pro-life Democrat says that after two years the program has clearly failed. “Crisis pregnancy centers have failed pregnant women by neglecting to provide recommended health and social services and failed pro-life supporters by directing funds away from the health care safety net that prevents unintended pregnancies and abortions. We need to re-direct these funds to evidence-based programs that improve women’s health.”
