Click here for more videos of House Democrats in opposition to the Pence Amendment.
 
Post:
http://www.democraticleader.gov/blog/?p=3557

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Karina
In addition to destroying jobs and threatening economic growth, the GOP spending bill (HR 1) on the floor this week eliminates Title X—a program that provides life-saving health services, including HIV testing, cancer screening, blood-pressure testing, and contraceptive services for more than 5 million women (two-thirds of whom are uninsured). The contraceptive services and supplies provided at Title X clinics are cost-effective and prevent nearly a million unintended pregnancies every year.
And as Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) explained tonight, eliminating Title X funding isn’t fiscally responsible:
The cuts were proposed under the guise of being fiscally responsible, but nothing could be further from the truth. For every dollar — and I want to say this maybe twice it is so important because nobody seems to have gotten this except my new friend from Illinois — for every dollar invested in family planning services, taxpayers save $4. So if you think you’re going to save yourself some money, go back to your planning board for that. But cutting family planning is not fiscally responsible, will not reduce the United States bottom line.
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzGAQphh1HQ]
On top of the HR 1′s provisions that endanger the lives and safety of millions of American women, the House debated an amendment by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) tonight to eliminate any federal funds that Planned Parenthood receives. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) explains the amendment:
We were told by our Republican colleagues they were here to create jobs, to turn the economy around, and to reduce the deficit. But here they go again, spending time on an extreme, divisive, social agenda. In a breathtaking and radical step, the Republican majority has already proposed to eliminate Title X funding, which has connected millions of American women to health care since 1970. And now this amendment by the Congressman from Indiana continues the same pattern of contempt for women’s health and basic rights. With this amendment, my Colleague is trying to specifically exclude one provider of legal health services, Planned Parenthood, from federal funds. This amendment has nothing to do with the deficit. It is an attack by one Congressman on one organization, and it needlessly puts the lives of American women in danger.
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuSMbXZM_BE]
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) notes while this amendment limits access to birth control for women, House Republicans passed an amendment yesterday to give contraception to horses:
Our constituents sent us here to create jobs. Instead, the majority is pushing an extreme right-wing agenda to limit women’s health. In the course of considering the underlying bill that eliminates the federal family planning program, a member of the majority, in fact, another gentleman from Indiana, proposed providing birth control to horses. And now we’re considering an amendment attacking Planned Parenthood, which has provided health services to one in five American women. So it seems to me that Republicans believe that horses should have family planning but women should not. I strongly urge those who support this affront to women’s health to clearly explain to their constituents that they want to make it harder to access pap tests, breast exams, routine gynecological examinations, flu vaccinations, smoking cessation services, cholesterol screening, contraceptives, and all of the other services that Planned Parenthood provides. My friends, this is not about abortion. Federal law prohibits federal dollars from being spent on abortion. This amendment is about denying women access to basic health services.
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zDnS5xpmHA]
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) summarizes, “instead of attacking unemployment, Republicans are waging a war against women”:
House Republicans have made their agenda really clear. What’s obvious it’s really not about creating jobs or addressing the economy, but rather the extreme agenda is to undermine women’s access to reproductive health care and attack women’s health providers that women rely on in their communities. We’ve seen an all out assault on Planned Parenthood–instead of attacking unemployment, Republicans are waging a war against women. This is not about federal funding of abortion and it is not about quality of care. This is about cutting off women’s access to affordable care in an effort to score political points. This amendment does nothing to improve the economy and will result in lost jobs and it will take away the only source of primary and preventive care from millions of American women.
[Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNQL56-QSCE]
Watch more videos from the amendment debate including Reps. Lois Capps, Barbara Lee, Jackie Speier, Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler, Gwen Moore, Frank Pallone, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz:
            [videos: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=63B575E41A84CF57]
The House will vote on the Pence amendment and the underlying bill later this week, but sadly HR 1 is just one of several bills House Republicans are advancing that endanger women’s health. Congress should be strengthening middle class families, not trying to stop people from getting health services.

South Dakota Moves To Legalize Killing Abortion Providers
by Kate Sheppard
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/south-dakota-hb-1171-legalize-killing-abortion-providers

A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus—a move that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. The Republican-backed legislation, House Bill 1171, has passed out of committee on a nine-to-three party-line vote, and is expected to face a floor vote in the state’s GOP-dominated House of Representatives soon.
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Jensen, a committed foe of abortion rights, alters the state’s legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language stating that a homicide is permissible if committed by a person “while resisting an attempt to harm” that person’s unborn child or the unborn child of that person’s spouse, partner, parent, or child. If the bill passes, it could in theory allow a woman’s father, mother, son, daughter, or husband to kill anyone who tried to provide that woman an abortion—even if she wanted one.
Jensen did not return calls to his home or his office requesting comment on the bill, which is cosponsored by 22 other state representatives and four state senators.
“The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers,” says Vicki Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation, the professional association of abortion providers. Since 1993, eight doctors have been assassinated at the hands of anti-abortion extremists, and another 17 have been the victims of murder attempts. Some of the perpetrators of those crimes have tried to use the justifiable homicide defense at their trials. “This is not an abstract bill,” Saporta says. The measure could have major implications if a “misguided extremist invokes this ‘self-defense’ statute to justify the murder of a doctor, nurse or volunteer,” the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families warned in a message to supporters last week.
The original version of the bill did not include the language regarding the “unborn child”; it was pitched as a simple clarification of South Dakota’s justifiable homicide law. Last week, however, the bill was “hoghoused”—a term used in South Dakota for heavily amending legislation in committee—in a little-noticed hearing. A parade of right-wing groups—the Family Heritage Alliance, Concerned Women for America, the South Dakota branch of Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, and a political action committee called Family Matters in South Dakota—all testified in favor of the amended version of the law.
Jensen, the bill’s sponsor, has said that he simply intends to bring “consistency” to South Dakota’s criminal code, which already allows prosecutors to charge people with manslaughter or murder for crimes that result in the death of fetuses. But there’s a difference between counting the murder of a pregnant woman as two crimes—which is permissible under law in many states—and making the protection of a fetus an affirmative defense against a murder charge.
[Continued…]

 On Abortion: Overturn Hyde

by guest blogger: Karen Grove in California

Dear Pro-Choice Friends and Neighbors,

So much has been going on lately, I wanted to share with all of you with some key information, resources, and actions to take.  Apologies for the length of this post.  There is so much to say!
At the Federal Level:
Giving life to the expression, “Don’t tell me what you believe.  Show me what you do, and I’ll tell you what you believe,” the new GOP-controlled congress (which ran on the promise of jobs) has made attacks on women’s access to abortion and family planning their number on priority.

Pence Amendment to the Continuing Resolution (H.R. 1):
Would eliminate Title X (Title “ten” — the 40 year old federal program that funds family planning for low-income women), and deny all other sources of federal funding to Planned Parenthood, even for primary and preventive care.
This statement captures the absurdity of this effort:
“The real impact of eliminating the Title X program is that millions of women across the country will lose access to basic primary and preventive health care, such as lifesaving cancer screenings, contraception, STI testing and treatment, and annual exams.  In fact, six in ten women who access care from a family planning health center consider it to be their main source of health care.”Federal programs for family planning are already woefully underfunded, reaching only half of the 17.5 million women in need of publicly funded family planning service [Amnesty International USA’s report on maternal health care crisis in the USA].
Title X services prevent nearly one million unintended pregnancies each year, almost half of which would otherwise end in abortion.
Please see Cecile Richards’ statement opposing H.R. 1 at the Planned Parenthood website.

Repealing Health Care Reform (H.R. 2):
Disproportionately harms women.  See the “Onion” for a funny parody!

The Smith Bill (H.R. 3):
Would expand and make permanent, the already unfair restrictions on federal funding of abortion for low-income women, and would use personal and business tax policy changes to effectively bar any insurance policy (including those paid for with personal funds) from covering abortion, even to protect a woman’s health when threatened by complications with later-term, wanted pregnancies.
For an analysis of the effect of the current (since 1977), already unfair ban on federal funding for abortion, I recommend this article from the Center for American Progress: A Right Denied: The Hyde Amendment Violates Women’s Civil Rights.

The ironically titled “Protect Life Act” (H.R.  358):
Would allow hospitals that receive federal funds to refuse to provide abortions, even when an abortion is necessary to save a woman’s life (more info here).

How you can help:

Be visible – Wear a Silver Ribbon to show you Trust Women: www.oursilverribbon.org

Contact legislators
Call or ask to meet with any legislators you have connections to.  Tell them your personal story of why Planned Parenthood (or any other publicly funded family planning provider) is, or has been, important to you or someone you know.  Personal stories help our allies support us in Congress!
If you have friends and relatives in other parts of the country, please ask for their help in speaking with their legislators.
Click here for Planned Parenthood’s call-in tool, with talking points, but don’t forget your personal story!

Letters to the Editor
Write a letter to the editor about the importance of the vital health services provided by Planned Parenthood and other publicly funded family planning service providers.

Stay informed.

Information is power!  Please consider joining these groups’ email lists, to stay informed and participate in grassroots actions that only take a moment of your time, such as signing petitions:

Center for Reproductive Rights

National Network of Abortion Funds

NARAL

Planned Parenthood Action Fund (the political arm of PPFA)

RH Reality Check

Trust Women Month/Silver Ribbon Campaign
Spread the word
Share this information with family and friends in other regions, via email, Facebook, lunch-time conversations…whatever medium you like to use!
Donate to support advocacy work

Make a 501c4 (non tax-deductible) donation to support Planned Parenthood’s advocacy work (they are working their butts off these days!):  Here are the links to donate to PPAF (mostly federal) and PPAMM (mostly state and local)
At the Local Level:
PPMM is expanding our service area to include San Mateo and Alameda counties.  To stay informed about local Planned Parenthood service delivery, and to support local advocacy efforts (such ashelping us open a new health center in Redwood City), please join our emaillist and Facebook page:
http://ppfa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=ca_ppmm_sign_up
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Planned-Parenthood-Mar-Monte/11927433507

The Planned Parenthood Peninsula Breakfast returns, March 3^rd 8:30 am, in Atherton.  Get your tickets, buy a table, or sponsor the event with a donation, here:

We’re excited to announce today the availability of 3 new Silver Ribbon gifts. In addition to the original Silver Ribbon pin. We have:

• Silver Ribbon pin (Blue): a pin with the Silver Ribbon logo on a field of blue (for each donation of $5).
• Silver Ribbon Chico bag: A compact, reusable shopping bag with the Silver Ribbon logo (for each donation of $20).
• Sterling Silver Ribbon Pin: A handcrafted, genuine Sterling silver version of the Silver Ribbon pin (for each donation of $500).

You can choose these Silver Ribbon gifts when you make your donation on our new Donate page.

Many thanks to those in the Blogosphere who have been spreading the word about the Silver Ribbon campaign!

• Ms Magazine Blog: What’s That Silver Ribbon You’re Wearing?
• Huffington Post: The Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign for Reproductive Rights — Why Now by Ellen R. Shaffer
• Our Bodies, Our Blog: Do You Trust Women to Make Their Own Choices About Reproductive Healthcare?
• Emily’s List Blog: Trust women: a month to advocate for women’s reproductive rights
• National Women’s Health Network
• Raging Grannies for the shout out on your blog. You are so cool!

twittered by Twibbon to its ~1million followers on 1/22

US Senator Kirstin Gillibrand wore the Silver Ribbon for the major press conference on the issue!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTCLQxjaHvk

You can see our campaign logo featured on: RH Reality Check, Splendora, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and all our partner sites.

Here we will post the ongoing list of petitions that you can sign to help the cause!

Please email or comment with ones you have to add!

Moveon

RT @MoveOn: A GOP bill would deny life-saving abortions. Tell them to stop the attacks on a woman’s right to choose: http://bit.ly/eqKbng

Gillibrand/Boxer

Stand with Senators Boxer and Gillibrand to oppose the GOP assault on women’s health at http://stophr3.com Pls RT #HR3 #DearJohn

DCCC

Take Action with EMILY’s List! Tell John Boehner that the GOP’s anti-woman agenda is unacceptable:

http://boehnersamerica.org/20110209aw/

SENATE DEMOCRATS SPEAK OUT AGAINST REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO RESTRICT WOMEN’S ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE
Instead of Creating Jobs, House Republicans Threaten Women’s Health by Limiting Their Access to Affordable Health Care and Reproductive Health Services
Washington, D.C. – At a press conference today, Senate Democrats spoke out to express their opposition to legislation being pushed by House Republicans this week that would endanger women’s health by severely limiting their access to affordable health care and reproductive health services.
 
U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on House Republicans to join in efforts to create jobs rather than pursuing an extreme agenda that would end a decades-long compromise on choice, raise taxes on women and businesses that have or want insurance that covers reproductive health care and restrict the ability of women to use their own personal funds to buy insurance that includes reproductive health services.
 
Senator Boxer said, “We are sending a clear message to House Republicans that their agenda on women’s health is extreme, it breaks faith with a decades-long bipartisan compromise and it risks the health and lives of women. It also punishes women and businesses with a tax hike if they wish to keep or buy insurance that covers a full range of reproductive health care. We want the women and families of America to know that we will continue to defend women’s health and, with a bipartisan effort, we will stop an agenda that would do them harm.”
 
“It’s telling that this bill, one of the very first bills House Republicans have introduced, is not on jobs or our economic recovery, it’s on sweeping cuts to insurance coverage for abortions,” said Senator Murray. “For all their talk about the size of government, it’s still very clear that they want government to come between women and their personal health care choices. I am looking forward to standing up to this extreme legislation should it make its way to the Senate.”
 
“The Republican-led House has launched an outrageous assault on women’s rights and wants to take away the rights of our sisters, daughters and granddaughters to make their own health care decisions,” Senator Lautenberg said. “Once again, we are seeing a male-o-garchy trying to turn the clock back on women’s health.  I remain committed to ensuring that American women always have the right to choose what’s best for their own lives and their own bodies.”
 
“Republicans claim that they want to keep government out of people’s lives, but they insist on asserting their authority in the lives of women,” Senator Gillibrand said. “They’ve been in power only a few weeks, yet the Republicans have already made depriving women of the medical care they need and deserve one of their primary goals. This agenda disregards women’s rights and restricts the ability of women to access affordable health care. Clearly, the Republican House is not focusing on creating jobs or growing our economy, but making the degradation of women’s health care a top priority.”
 
“I can’t understand why some in Congress are focusing their energies on further restricting women’s access to reproductive care — instead of working to create jobs,” said Senator Franken. “The proposed legislation would end the decades-long compromise on choice, stopping women from using their own funds to buy health insurance that covers reproductive care.  This is simply unacceptable.” 
 
“This measure is an unprecedented assault on women’s health,” Senator Blumenthal said. “It creates reprehensible risks for the health of countless women across the country, puts them in jeopardy of losing vital health services, and it imperils not just them, but their families.”
 
Below are some of the extreme provisions in House Republicans’ legislation that would endanger women’s health and hurt American families:
 
●     Women would be restricted from using their own personal funds to purchase insurance that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3, H.R.358)
 
●     Families would be barred from using their Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Savings Accounts to pay for a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
 
●     Small businesses that receive a tax credit to buy health insurance for their employees would lose their tax credit if they choose a plan that covers reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
 
●     People who have lost their jobs because of trade with foreign countries would no longer be able to use their Health Coverage Tax Credit to buy any insurance plan that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
 
●      According to the National Women’s Law Center, for the first time in decades, there would no longer be a requirement that states provide abortions to poor women who are victims of rape or incest, or need the procedure to save their life. (H.R.3)
 
●     Hospitals would no longer have to provide pregnant women who need urgent, emergency care with life-saving procedures. (H.R.358)
 
●     Due to restrictions on the Title X family planning program, millions of women would lose access to mammograms, other cancer screenings, and essential health services. (H.R.217)
 
●     The self-employed who deduct health care costs from their taxes would no longer be able to do so if they have a plan that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R. 3)
 
●     Those who pay health insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars would not be able to buy or keep insurance plans that cover a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
 
●     The District of Columbia would no longer be allowed to spend its own tax dollars on providing women in D.C. a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)
 
●     The legislation, as originally proposed, would have redefined rape and incest for purposes of federal funding to take away access to the full range of reproductive health care for some victims of rape and incest. (H.R.3, H.R.358)

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER, Feb. 8

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on House Republicans to join in efforts to create jobs rather than pursuing an extreme agenda that would end a decades-long compromise on choice, raise taxes on women and businesses that have or want insurance that covers reproductive health care and restrict the ability of women to use their own personal funds to buy insurance that includes reproductive health services.

Check out the video where Senator Gillibrand is wearing our Silver Ribbon!!!

and take action by signing Boxer/Gillibrand’s petition

http://stophr3.com

Below are some of the extreme provisions in House Republicans’ legislation that would endanger women’s health and hurt American families:

Women would be restricted from using their own personal funds to purchase insurance that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3, H.R.358)

Families would be barred from using their Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Savings Accounts to pay for a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)Small businesses that receive a tax credit to buy health insurance for their employees would lose their tax credit if they choose a plan that covers reproductive health care. (H.R.3)

People who have lost their jobs because of trade with foreign countries would no longer be able to use their Health Coverage Tax Credit to buy any insurance plan that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)

According to the National Women’s Law Center, for the first time in decades, there would no longer be a requirement that states provide abortions to poor women who are victims of rape or incest, or need the procedure to save their life. (H.R.3)

Hospitals would no longer have to provide pregnant women who need urgent, emergency care with life-saving procedures. (H.R.358)

Due to restrictions on the Title X family planning program, millions of women would lose access to mammograms, other cancer screenings, and essential health services. (H.R.217)

The self-employed who deduct health care costs from their taxes would no longer be able to do so if they have a plan that covers a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R. 3)

Those who pay health insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars would not be able to buy or keep insurance plans that cover a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)

The District of Columbia would no longer be allowed to spend its own tax dollars on providing women in D.C. a full range of reproductive health care. (H.R.3)

The legislation, as originally proposed, would have redefined rape and incest for purposes of federal funding to take away access to the full range of reproductive health care for some victims of rape and incest. (H.R.3, H.R.358)