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Opposition Rises To De-Funding Planned Parenthood

Posted by: Linda Carbonell on March 12, 2011.

03-12-2011 by L. S. Carbonell

Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Independent of Alaska,

has joined Senator Susan Collins of Maine in opposing the Republican leadership on the issue of de-funding Planned Parenthood. In a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)and Vice-Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Murkowski wrote, “I believe Planned Parenthood provides vital services to those in need and disagree with their funding cuts in the bill. I ask you to consider these programs going forward to determine if there is room for allowing continued funding.”

De-funding Planned Parenthood is a two-prong attack in the Republican House budget bill to fund the remainder of the 2010-11 fiscal year. The House wants to de-fund Title X, which Planned Parenthood is part of, and de-fund Planned Parenthood in a separate bill sponsored by Republican Representative Mike Pence of Indiana. The attacks on Planned Parenthood are part of a Republican attempt to further restrict access to abortion, even though Planned Parenthood scrupulously separates abortion funding from the money it receives from the Federal Government. Abortions are a very small part of Planned Parenthood’s operations, which center on family planning, access to birth control, pregnancy prevention education and medical services for women who cannot afford them in the private sector.

Sen. Collins came out against the Title X de-funding last week, with her spokesman Kevin Kelley saying “Sen. Collins is a longtime supporter of the Title X family planning program, and she believes the House’s decision to completely eliminate the funding is unwise. The program has successfully reduced the number of unplanned pregnancies, therefore helping to reduce health care costs.” It also helps prevent abortions, but that argument never flies with conservatives.

Democratic Representative Bill Owens of New York’s 23^rd District was interviewed Saturday night on WPIX-TV in Plattsburgh about the budget battle. He is dissatisfied with the haste with which the Republicans are making their cuts, and feels that cutting the budget should be a matter of assessing what programs work and which don’t. He specifically mentioned the ideologically-driven cuts like the ones proposed for Title X and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Murkowski expanded on her position in an e-mail to a constituent that was obtained by POLITICO. “I do believe that Planned Parenthood provides vital services to those in need and disagree with its funding cuts contained in the H.R.1 package. From 2002-2008, Planned Parenthood received $342 million in federal taxpayer money through Title X funding alone. With these funds, Planned Parenthood has provided women throughout the U.S. with important family planning and contraceptive services as well as screening for breast and cervical cancers for low-income women. I believe it is important that Title X organizations continue to receive funding. In Alaska, this includes five centers – two health department clinics, two Planned Parenthood clinics in Sitka and Soldotna and one independent clinic.”

The far right-wing in the House are demanding that the de-funding of Planned Parenthood is a “non-negotiable” item in the continuing resolution. The House leadership has given them no promises to preserve the cuts. Seven House Republicans joined the Democrats in voting against the Pence amendment to de-fund Planned Parenthood separately. With the list of non-negotiables that the right-wing have, it is becoming very doubtful that negotiations for a compromise continuing resolution are going to accomplish very much before the next government shut-down deadline next week.