Why Planned Parenthood Matters

Thy most perfectly stated and plainly worded account I have read as to why the Planned Parenthood bashers are simply wrong.  Courtney Kessler nails her argument in a most persuasive column.

I rely on Planned Parenthood for contraceptive care and preventive cancer screenings. I work three part-time jobs, none of which offer me benefits, and I make just above the monthly threshold to qualify for full Medicaid coverage. Planned Parenthood worked with me to get me enrolled in family planning-only Medicaid services, which has a higher income threshold. 

That means I’m able to get regular reproductive health checkups, which is especially important to me because of my family history. I lost my aunt to ovarian cancer three years ago, and I know early detection can mean the difference between successful treatment and a terminal diagnosis.

Planned Parenthood is my only health care provider, and it’s the only place I can access the preventive screenings I need to make sure I’m healthy.

When I hear people say I could just go somewhere else, I don’t think they understand how difficult it is to find a provider that offers the services I need and accepts Medicaid. In fact, in nearly half the counties Planned Parenthood serves, there are no alternative family planning providers.

Congressional Democrats Push Background Checks In Must-Pass Budget Bill

UPDATE–TRUE COLOR OF REPUBLICANS REVEALED AND IT IS BLOOD RED–The Senate rejected a measure from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to expand background checks for guns purchased online and at gun shows on a 48 to 50 vote and an amendment from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to prevent people on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms on a 45 to 54 vote. 

The gun violence that played out yesterday in yet another mass shooting spree has forced America–to again– face the fact that this nation is off the rails when it comes to guns.  We have had more than one mass shooting each day of this year in our country.  There is no way a moral or reasonable person can pretend we are not in a crisis.  A crisis that needs some attempts made to curtail it.

Today congressional Democrats decided to make an effort to bring sanity to the forefront of the issue as opposed to the GOP who think playing to evangelicals will stop the carnage.

Senate Democratic Leaders Harry Reid made it clear where he stands, and what he and his colleagues will work on when it comes to amendments that can be a part of the must-pass budget bill (reconciliation package).

“People on this side of the aisle are focused on doing something to stop this gun violence, and we’re going to force amendments to that end today. Not many, but a few. A few that try to do something, anything. Are we going to vote on expanded background checks? Shouldn’t we do that, at least,” said Reid. “We’re going to vote to prevent criminals convicted of harassing women at health clinics from buying a gun, owning a gun. Senators will have to decide where they stand on these amendments.”

I also find the amendment from Democratic Senator Murray of Washington to remove provisions from the bill defunding Planned Parenthood and similar organizations but would also fund clinic security most timely given the climate that hate speech has spawned in the nation.  The over-the-top and heated rhetoric against women from conservatives regarding health care services necessitates security measures be afforded to PP clinics.

Reid stated it better than anyone else today when speaking for the vast middle swath of the nation who are beyond anger and bewilderment about the gun violence that plays out every day in the country.   “How can we live with ourselves for failing to do things we know that may reduce gun violence. Will it get of all of it? Of course not, but will it reduce it? Yes.  We’re complicit through our inaction, and if continue to fail to act we’ll be complicit today and every day into the future.”

Amen.

Standing Up For Planned Parenthood Tonight

The bile about Planned Parenthood spun by conservative Republicans created the climate of hate that resulted in the shootings at a clinic in Colorado today. It is vital that all those who understand why women must have control of their own bodies and health care stand up and tell the three-thumbers to shut the hell up. Words have consequences and all the clap-trap from the GOP aimed at harming PP does connect with those who are not stable but have plenty of ways to get a gun. PP serves a real need in the nation and this is the time to stand up proudly for the services they provide and the people they help.

Senator Ted Cruz Working Against Public Mood

Leave it to Senator Ted Cruz to try and force a square peg into a round hole.

On the one hand Cruz plans to fight in the coming days and weeks for a showdown in Congress over Planned Parenthood and the budget.  He thinks this a sure-fire way to showcase his conservative fighting spirit to the soon to be voting base of the party.

But on the other hand a new Quinnipiac poll finds 69% of Americans oppose shutting down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood.  Just 23% support closing the government over the dispute. Even among Republicans, 56% oppose a shutdown due to Planned Parenthood.

What is a three-thumbed politician named Cruz to do?

Not All Republicans Want To Shut Down Government At End Of Month

Today it was reported that nearly a dozen Republican freshmen have penned an open letter to their colleagues strongly suggesting there be no government shutdown.  That possibility is real given the zeal of far right-wingers in congress and across the nation to stop government from working.  The letter came from first-termers, with virtually all of them coming from competitive districts.

It also caught my eye today that New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte is strongly rejecting any call for a shutdown.  She has made it clear that it was a mistake for her colleagues to try and attach defunding of Planned Parenthood to a stopgap spending measure.  The senator has every reason to feel that need to act more progressive as she is facing a donnybrook of a campaign when she will likely face Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan in 2016.

Carly Fiorina LIED about Planned Parenthood Video

From the conservative Wall Street Journal.

But the image she described isn’t in any of the videos released by the antiabortion group. Instead, one video from the group depicts a former employee of a tissue procurement company stating what she says she saw at a Planned Parenthood clinic. There was never any video that depicted, as Ms. Fiorina stated, a live fetus on a table being prepared for organ harvesting.

No Government Shutdown Over Planned Parenthood

Let us cheer for the adult in the room.

I come from the perspective that government is about working to make sure the trains leave the station on time.   It means compromising and having leaders who know how to keep a steady and firm hand on governing.

Such is the case with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell concerning the latest flap over Planned Parenthood.

We’re not doing government shutdowns,” Mr. McConnell said when asked whether the fight over the women’s health centers would complicate passage of spending bills to fund the government in fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1.

“We’ve been down this path before. This is a tactic that’s been tried going back to the 90s, frequently by Republican majorities, that always ends the same: the focus is on the fact that the government is shut down, not on what the underlying issue that was being protested is.”

We have every reason to support those from the other side when they work to make sure government does not grind to halt.  The very idea that some conservatives would love to see a government shutdown makes the work of McConnell all the more important and note-worthy.

Susan G. Komen WILL Fund Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation pulling of funds to Planned Parenthood was one of the most befuddling stories to come along in a long time.  There was no reason for it other than some very crass politics and anti-abortion zeal.  The breast cancer-related services provided to women all over the nation was to suffer due to some very unexplained backroom politics.

The national outrage was fast and furious.  This morning–can you believe it–there is now a reversal from the folks at  Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation about the funding.

While I am glad to see the threat of pulling funds was taken off the table, there are still the images of the spokeswoman for the Komen fund defending the idea on television this past week, and making it appear that it was not a political statement.

Komen released the following statement Friday:

“We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned  Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while  maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet  the needs of their communities,” the charity says in a statement.

“It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause,  slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be  administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge  everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the  last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred  or affected by politics — anyone’s politics.”

Rather poor choices of words considering how this  all started.