The 2011 Budget Story
The government will be shut down at midnight Friday April 8th if an agreement on the budget is not reached. Women's rights advocates flooded the Capitol on April 7th to fight for women's health and family planning funds, but the Republicans are still holding the budget hostage. They want to ELIMINATE the family planning program, which will devastate women's health care access and increase costs.
Call Obama NOW (Switchboard: 202-456-1414 | White House: 202-456-1111) and let him know that we can't let women's health be bargained away. Ask him to please continue to stand strong and save family planning, which is vital to women's lives.
What's At Stake? The latest budget proposal would make major cuts:
• The Title X Family Planning Program that supports clinics serving 5 million women will be decimated.
• All federal dollars for Planned Parenthood eliminated.
• Allowing local dollars for providing abortions for women in D.C. will become illegal.
• The devastating Global Gag Rule will be reinstated-which will cut vital family planning aid for other countries.
• No more funding for the U.N. Population Fund.
Women at home and around the world will be put in jeopardy. If we do not act now, we could lose access to vital healthcare like screenings for cancer, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted infections, and diabetes, and contraception access for millions of women.
There are currently a number of proposals on the table in Congress that aim to eliminate family planning funding to ALL women's health clinics that also provide abortions with separate, non-federal funds. This would result in the loss of access to vital healthcare like screenings for cancer, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted infections, and diabetes, and contraception access for millions of women.
How can this happen?
First, Rep. Mike Pence R-IN introduced an amendment to the Continuing Resolution (budget bill) that would elminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The House has already voted in favor of this amendment.
As if that isn't enough, the House is lining up more cuts. They are proposing to slash all family planning dollars that flow to the thousands of women's health clinics across the country, many of which are the ONLY health care option for women. These clinics collectively serve an estimated 5 million women. Vital health care services will be slashed for low-income women across the country.
Last, Pence has introduced H.R. 217, or the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (learn more here) which would cause the same devastation to women's health as the proposed budget cuts.
What other vital services are on the chopping block?
Make no mistake: Women and children are being thrown under the bus in the House's proposed budget.
Cuts include:
- $750 Million in nutrition programs for pregnant women and children - ELIMINATED
- Access to breast and cervical cancer screening for 5 million women - ELIMINATED
- Slashing early childhood education funding like $1 billion for Head Start and $40 million in child care
- Teen pregnancy prevention grants - ELIMINATED
- $50 million to Maternal and Child Health Block Grant that supports state-based prenatal care and services for special needs children
What you can do NOW:
1. Reach out to your Senators today. If you're a New Yorker, thank Senator Gillibrand (212.688.6262)
for forcefully speaking out against these cuts. [Watch video] Call (212.486.4430) or email Senator Schumer's office and ask him to please keep his promise that these cuts will be "dead on arrival" in the Senate. Then ask friends and family in other states to reach their Senators. They can send a simple message asking their Senator to please Vote NO on any budget bill that eliminates family planning funding.
2. Contact your Representative today and tell them to protect critical funding for women's healthcare. Preventive services such as contraception and family planning education actually REDUCE the number of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. Tell them to reject budget cuts to Planned Parenthood and vital family planning and to reject H.R. 217.
3. Flood Speaker Boehner and Representative Pence's offices with your calls, emails and comments.
4. Forward this message to your friends across New York and the country, and post on facebook and twitter.
More Info:
Stop the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (H.R. 217), introduced by Rep. Mike Pence R-IN.
What the bill will do:
The bill will ban Title X dollars from any health clinic or entity that performs abortions, even though such is already banned from going toward abortions.
Reality Check:
This bill brings the global gag rule home to the U.S., and it will threaten access to health care and prevention services for low-income women. This will decimate major funding for thousands of health clinics across the country, such as Planned Parenthood, that provide critical reproductive health services that include access to contraception, treatment of STI's, and cancer screening. For many women, these types of clinics provide their only health care.
Silver Lining? Obama's Budget Proposes Increase in Family Planning Dollars
