Republican House speaker Paul Ryan yesterday announced that the party planned to scale back federal taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, confirming the fears of supporters of the organization.
The announcement came a day after a special house panel delivered a report criticizing the organization, which provides birth control, abortions and other health care services to women across the country. Speaking to media in Washington yesterday, Ryan explained that the intention to defund the organization would be included as part of the Obamacare repeal legislation – a top priority for the Republican Party.
We will repeal #Obamacare and make sure there is a stable transition to a truly patient-centered system. pic.twitter.com/hkvNLgzi0L
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) January 5, 2017
While action to defund the organization has been expected at a federal level since the 2016 election, the comments mark the first official word from the Republicans on the matter. Unsurprisingly, the announcement has been met with an outcry from Democrats and supporters of Planned Parenthood.
Speaking to The San Francisco Chronicle, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards explains the implications the loss of federal funding would have on the organization.
“Defunding Planned Parenthood is dangerous to people’s health, it’s unpopular, and it would leave people across the country without care. They cannot afford to have basic reproductive health care attacked.”
It has been reported that the Republican’s plan would remove up to $400 million per year in funding from the organization, while putting the care of 400,000 women at risk . In an attempt to fight this, Planned Parenthood is about to embark on their biggest campaign in the organization’s history, titled “Stand With Planned Parenthood”.
Richards elaborates on the aim of the campaign.
“[The campaign will] agitate and engage our millions of supporters around the country to make sure we’re telling the story of what people are poised to lose. We will make sure that every single senator who votes on the issue is fully aware of the millions of people who are going to lose health care, including thousands in the states they represent.”
Already, many of the estimated 59 percent of voters who support Planned Parethood have taken to Twitter to voice their outrage of the intention to defund the organization, including many politicians and celebrities.
House Republicans announced today that they will again attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. What an outrage. We need to fight back.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 5, 2017
Here’s a great opportunity to get loud about your support for Planned Parenthood. If you have a sister, mother, or daughter. #safety
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) January 6, 2017
Today, stood with my colleagues against @HouseGOP effort to defund Planned Parenthood in their bill to repeal the #ACA . #IStandWithPP
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 5, 2017
And so it begins… I plan to continue fighting and you should too https://t.co/G7yaZyrNqi
— Bethany Cosentino (@BethanyCoast) January 5, 2017
Planned Parenthood currently receives federal government funding in the form of reimbursements for various non-abortion health services for low-income women as well as contraceptive services. While federal law prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion procedures, Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford explains why many pro-life republicans still oppose the organization.
“A lot of the ongoing support in the structural finances for Planned Parenthood goes to build the buildings, the infrastructure that provides abortion.”
For his part, President-Elect Trump has continually back flipped on the issue, acknowledging during his campaign that Planned Parenthood helps millions of women, while publically announcing his support of defunding the organization in a latter to pro-life activists last September. Trump has also referred to himself as “very pro-choice” in the past, while he now actively opposes abortion.
The fight to secure the future of Planned Parenthood has been an ongoing battle in the states as well as at a federal level. The state of Texas cut all funding to Planned Parenthood clinics in December 2016 in a move Cecile Richards has called “a cautionary tale for the rest of the nation.”
CNN has reported that the Republican decision to combine the Planned Parenthood proposal with the Obamacare repeal may prove to be a savior for the organization . Previous attempts to defund Planned Parenthood have been met with deadlock in the senate and the combination of the provision with the Obamacare repeal may mean the legislation would not receive the required votes to be approved by the senate.
While there is no doubt the repeal of the Affordable Care Act is a top priority for the Republicans, it is unclear whether the party would be prepared to forego attempts to defund Planned Parenthood to achieve this.
[Featured Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
