Obama Stands With Planned Parenthood … Permanently

On September 2, the Obama administration and the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule change to Title X last will protect women’s health care providers like Planned Parenthood and the people who use them — forever.

The new rule would forbid any agency from attempting to remove funding from health care providers that receive Title X funding for any reason “unrelated to their ability to provide Title X services,” according to the proposal. This means that politicians will no longer be able to target clinics that offer abortions for spending cuts just because they disagree with the procedure.

The Department of Health states that Title X, also known as the Family Planning Program, was created in 1970 for the sole purpose of enabling “individuals to freely determine the number and spacing of children.” While the Hyde Amendment prevents federal funds from being used for abortion services, Title X offers free or low-cost STD and HIV testing and treatment referrals, contraception, cervical and breast cancer screening, and fertility treatments to low-income Americans. More than 4 million people used these services at the more than 3,900 Title X-funded centers and clinics in 2015 alone.

Despite the very present need for low-cost women’s health care, organizations like Planned Parenthood have been under attack from the Republican Party. Undercover anti-abortion activists have entered clinics for years, trying to get employees to say something incriminating and releasing heavily edited and manipulative videos. Several of these videos made by the misleadingly named Center for Medical Progress made headlines last year when they alleged to have “proof” that Planned Parenthood sold “baby parts.”

Republican politicians used these falsified videos to gain public support for defunding Planned Parenthood and similar organizations across the country.

Multiple state and congressional investigations have found zero evidence of any wrongdoing at Planned Parenthood. In fact, a grand jury in Houston actually indicted two members of the Center for Medical Progress in June on charges of using fake drivers’ licenses and attempting to buy fetal tissue.

This lack of evidence hasn’t prevented the GOP from continuing to target women’s health care, however. Senate Republicans continue to push a supposedly anti-Zika bill that would slash family planning funding when it’s needed most.

“Rather than another empty gesture, the American people need real solutions to fight Zika – solutions that include family planning services. Senator McConnell and Speaker Ryan should listen to the calls of medical experts, members of their own party, and the American public, and come together to pass a comprehensive funding bill that does not exclude providers who are on the ground fighting the Zika virus,” said Dana Singiser, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Planned Parenthood officials have also praised Obama and his administration for their efforts to protect Title X funding.

“Women in nearly half the states in this country have faced political attacks on cancer screenings, birth control, and other basic care,” said Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards. “This rule makes it clear that politicians cannot ignore the law as they pursue their agenda to stop women from getting the care they need.”