Excerpt: "The Oklahoma State Department of Heath has just announced that it will end its WIC contract with the state's Planned Parenthood affiliates."
Members of Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America and more than 20 other organizations hold a rally in support of preventive health care and family planning services, including abortion. (photo: Reuters)
The Latest Attack In the War On Women
07 October 12
he Oklahoma State Department of Heath has just announced that it will end its WIC contract with the state's Planned Parenthood affiliates, effectively cutting off the federal funding that the organization's clinics rely on to provide health services to low-income women.
The WIC program - which uses federal funds to provide food vouchers to low-income pregnant women, mothers, and young children - has been in partnership with three out of the four Tulsa-area Planned Parenthood clinics for the past 18 years, and the dissolution of the contract may force those clinics to close.The state's Department of Health did not give a reason for the contract's termination, saying only that it will not be renewed for "business reasons."
Jill June, the president of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, told the Tulsa World that she believes the decision to end WIC funding to her organization was politically motivated, as anti-choice legislators across the country work to target Planned Parenthood affiliates as a central tactic in their ongoing War on Women:
"We're going to do whatever we can to preserve our ability to continue to serve these women and children, because we know that's what they want and we know that we are a very good provider," [June] said.
The clinics in the Tulsa area have about 3,000 WIC visits a month, a spokesman said. [...]
"I think we deserve some answers, but, more importantly, the women who come to Planned Parenthood, they shouldn't be caught up in what I fear is a political attack," June said.
Oklahoma appears to be following in the footsteps of the state of Texas, which cut off funds to Planned Parenthood's clinics by making the organization ineligible for the Medicaid funding that helps the organization provide services to low-income women. Just as in Texas, Oklahoma's Planned Parenthood facilities do not actually perform abortions - in fact, they provide critical preventative care like cancer screening and contraceptive services to low-income women who would otherwise be unable to afford that type of care. Politically-motivated attacks on women's health have already forced at least 50 health clinics in Texas to close, painting a bleak picture of what could be in store for the women living in Oklahoma.
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
 24 May 2013
|
 23 May 2013
|
 22 May 2013
|
 23 May 2013
|
 23 May 2013
|
 24 May 2013
|
 22 May 2013
|
 22 May 2013
|
 25 May 2013
|
Comments
We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.
General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.
Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.
- The RSN Team
-Every GOP Senator voted AGAINST Equal Pay for Women Act
- Every GOP Senator voted AGAINST Al Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment
- Every GOP member vote FOR Anti-Safe Abortion Legislation
- Every GOP member vote FOR Blunt/Rubio Anti-Women's Equal Health
Coverage Amendment. While Blunt/Rubio Amendment does not allow employer
to deny men employee health coverage for Vasectomy, the Blunt/Rubio
Amendment allows Employer to deny female employees & female
dependents: contraception, tubes tied, and hysterectomies.
- GOP Redefine Rape
- GOP write legislation to probe metal prongs up a woman's vagina
- GOP change legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence
to "accuser"
- GOP write legislation that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides
abortion care. (South Dakota GOP)
- GOP write legislation to cut nearly a billion dollars of aid to low-income
pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.
- GOP write legislation that would let hospitals allow a woman to die
rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.
- GOP write law cutting ALL funding for low-income kids saying "Women
should really be home with the kids, not out working (Maryland)
- GOP Cut Funding for Head Start, by $1 Billion.
- Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women: GOP write Bill to CUT
funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.
- GOP Candidates for President vow and pledge to Cut Funding for Planned
Parenthood.
- GOP voted for a Amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood
health centers.
- GOP write Bill to eliminate all funds for Federal Family Planning Program.
- GOP Write Bill to Provide Contraception for wild horses but ENDS
all Federal Funding for Family Planning, including contraception coverage. (Dan Burton(R))
- GOP Jan Brewer (R- AZ) Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer
signed one of the most controversial and restrictive abortion bans in the
country, which experts say effectively bans abortions after 18 weeks and
declares that a woman could be pregnant 2 weeks before she even had sex.
States passed 83 laws restricting access to abortion, nearly four times the
23 laws passed in 2010. A lot of that had to do with the 2010 elections, which
ushered in a wave of Republican legislators and governors. This year, the
number of states with fully anti-abortion governments — in which both the
governor and the legislature oppose abortion rights — increased from
10 to 15.
The GOP has also refused to renew the Violence Against Women Act.
And Red States have passed 110 laws restricting access to abortion, nearly
four times the 23 laws passed in 2010. A lot of that had to do with the 2010
elections, which ushered in a wave of Republican legislators and governors.
This year, the number of states with complete anti-abortion governments — that
is those in which both the governor and the legislature oppose abortion rights
— increased from 10 to 15.
It IS a war on women due to the widespread cuts and law and policy changes. If it were men who were having healthcare removed from their health agenda, it would be a war on men.
WIC, by the way, has nothing to do with abortion; it is for women and children who benefit greatly. Including children in this ongoing attack is despicable.
How about the child itself? Would you want to have your father to be your mother's father? Have you EVER considered what it is like in REAL LIFE to cope with these issues? What do you think it is like for a child when others find out who their father is. And they do.
Folks who advocate condemning women to this endless suffering never consider the child and what that child must deal with in life. Folks who don't understand the issues, and who would not truly want a member of their family in that situation, or who are unwilling to adopt these children have no right to voice their opinion, much less their condemnation.
If I were raped I don't think there is anyway I could keep the child. I would put it up for adoption. I think there would be too much emotional baggage for me; I would be afraid of not being able to be a good mom.
I have cared for foster children. It is really hard when kids are behind physically or emotionally and it is hard on the kids, but most of the time they are just people like anyone else. The kids I watched when they were older did begin to understand that their biological parent had not cared for them when they were in the womb, but they didn't seem angry and no one ever told me that they wished to not exist.
I am sorry that you felt I was condemning those who have abortions. I am not. I understand why someone especially in the horrific situations we are discussing would, but doing so does not make the fetus aborted less human.
"(and please do consider the assistance being discontinued due to republican efforts)" For the record I do not support republic social policy as it relates to welfare.
Life has been difficult world wide for everyone. Utilizing common sense and humane attitudes is not always possible for women, especially, to improve quality of life. Children are suffering everywhere. If Americans could visit those who are suffering, their attitudes just might change when it comes to assisting women and children.
When---through the use of simple logic---you you cannot impose your personal religion upon others, you simply endorse and emulate Oklahoma troglodytes and their attack Women & Children.
Smooth move, ExLax!
Planned Parenthood spends THREE (3) percent of it's Budget on Abortion issues, the rest is spent on Family Planning, Screenings for Breast and Cervical Cancers, Pre-natal Nutrition, and other Women's Health concerns. WHY is this a bad thing for women? Oklahoma needs to pull it's Elected Head out of it's Anal Cavity and DO the RIGHT thing for the women of their State! This is SHEER Lunacy! WHAT is your "alternative" to Planned Parenthood and the EXCELLENT job they DO and have BEEN doing for all these years PRIOR to the Fanatics taking hold of and declaring themselves the Arbiters of ALL things Female? Name a few of these "alternatives" that will help those being disencumbered of the Essential Medical Assistance they receive from Planned Parenthood. Abortion, by the way, is LEGAL in this Country! WHY would you FORCE your beliefs on someone whose choice just might differ from yours? This USED to be a FREE Country!
...and if the person chooses to terminate? What services have you? Until the Law is changed NO ONE has the Right to prevent a woman from seeking the medical attention she needs and wants! By eliminating these services you drive women to the back alley's and coat hanger remedies for a problem best left to a Professional! I can almost hear your answer. "well, that's their choice". NO it's NOT, it's YOURS!
How does the coat hanger method work anyway? Is the fetus poked with it and then the woman miscarries at home? I always hear about the coat hanger method and having had one miscarriage and two live births I am not sure how this method would work. Could you just post a link I don't need a graphic description on the board. This is actually an honest question.
No one has a legal right to prevent a woman from having an abortion. I don't think anyone argued otherwise. I would however argue that the legality of laws not grounded in natural law can be debated.
EXACTLY! So, WHAT is a woman to do, whose CHOICE it is, to Terminate an UNWANTED pregnancy in the State of Oklahoma? They are closing down Planned Parenthood, which was a safe, reliable source for health services for poor and underprivileged women (Women with MONEY can usually access Abortion Services PRIVATELY so they won't be castigated by their neighbors!). WHY is it that the poor and already over-burdened are forced into MORE misery than is necessary? WHY the woman is seeking to terminate is NO ONE else's business. No matter if the reason is Medical or Personal, she should have the RIGHT to self-determinat ion! There should be NO Law on the books regarding a Woman's RIGHT to terminate an unwanted or medically unsafe pregnancy. WHERE is concern for the thousands of infants and children ALREADY here? "Are there no Prisons? Are there No Workhouses?" Here the State I live in, the Cretins are beating their Toddlers senseless and gluing their little hands to the wall as a "toilet training" tool! If it was me, I'd rather have been aborted than horrified to death and grow up to be another Cretinous abuser! IN some States, by the way, they're prosecuting women who have Spontaneous abortions! It is MADNESS! So much for "Natural Law".
You hit on a really good point, "WHERE is concern for the thousands of infants and children ALREADY here?" This is the point we need to focus on. How does society make people care about its weakest members? If we continue to abort the weak then when someone chooses to have a baby that will have health problems (mental or physical) society has an escape hatch - they don't have to care for that child because the mom should have aborted them. By having abortion available to everyone we can say, "I don't have to help that destitute mom of eight. She chose to have all those kids. Let her feed them." Abortion makes the problem worse it replaces compassion with eugenics.
The people you talk about who are mistreating there kids the way that you have described should loose their kids and go to jail.
No one has a legal right to prevent a woman from having an abortion. I don't think anyone argued otherwise. I would however argue that the legality of laws not grounded in natural law can be debated.
FYI: I am NOT an advocate for Abortion, however, I DO value a woman's RIGHT to make that kind of decision for HERSELF!
In November of 2009, a woman was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. She was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child, and she was gravely ill. She was told by her doctors that the risk of mortality was close to 100% if she continued her pregnancy. She agreed to the abortion, but the problem was, she was in a Catholic hospital, and she was too sick to be moved. Sister Margaret McBride, an administrator at the hospital, gave her consent for the procedure. As a result, Sister McBride was excommunicated by the bishop.
The message is clear: If the walking uterus can't bear to term, it's worthless and therefore disposable.
And thanks to Sophie for cataloging the GOP’s List of Shameless Misogyny. The only thing I can add to that is that there’s a growing number of reports of discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace.
“No war against women” my left butt-cheek. More like, “More rights for fetuses and corporations than women.”
The solution to abortion is: If someone doesn't want one, don't get one, otherwise , stay out of other people's business. You sound like someone who spends 6 days a week sewing your wild oats, and prays for a crop failure on Sunday.
This is fractious logic, at best, and yet these people are in government, they have the power, and they will not compromise based on the need of the people.
I smell Republican, right-wing, religious fanaticism that the government should not be in AT ALL. If birth control and abortion, among ALL the other great services PP provides for families, are LEGAL, then, how can they pull funding? Why else would they? And what's next? Days of extreme hardship for all of us...who ARE these people who support this move???
Sick.
N.
Believe me, the only people who choose to live there are those who are either Bible Thumpers and don't know better, or on the top of the feeding chain and are getting fat off of eating their subordinates.
Hold on there hoss - there is no mention of dropping the WIC program, they are just changing their place of service. That is the part of the contract that got ended, not the service itself. And if these PP offices depended on being a WIC POS to stay afloat they were already taking on serious water. We do not have a PP office in this large rural county but the nurses etc come to the local senior centers or other sites to deliver well baby checks, vaccinations and dispense WIC vouchers.
I did go to Planned Parenthood for care and recruited volunteers for them at one time. I regret both. In our town we have a place called the Pregnancy Care Center. They do not refer for abortions but they do provide prenatal care. As someone who use to coordinate the federal Retired and Senior volunteer program for my area I can assure you that, at least where I live there are resources for people who need them and that Planned Parenthood is non-essential for healthcare services. I know this through the referrals I did of volunteers
My grandmother grew up in fostercare. I am glad her mom didn't have to decide if she were worth keeping or not. I like existing.
I have been involved with Planned Parenthood and numerous other assistance programs over the years and can testify that many a woman was saved from having to resort to depending on an irresponsible man to "save" them, and to having been educated and assisted with getting a job through various programs.
Women overly dependent on men to get them out of poverty are pretty much doomed to more of the same.
Planned Parenthood contributed a great deal to the health department where I worked in the '70's, and the WIC Program was paramount in helping local women. This was in a rural community and there were no other programs for them. There is no standard measure from one community to another.
Assistance in critical areas does free up women to seek education and possibly a halfway decent job. Jobs are definitely entwined with assistance.
"Except you can’t show a topless woman on TV - and you can’t defibrillate a woman in a bra. So victims of heart attacks on TV are *always* male. Did you know that a woman having a heart attack is more likely to have *back or jaw pain* than chest or left arm pain? I didn’t - because I’ve never seen a woman having a heart attack. I’ve been trained in CPR and Advanced First Aid by the Red Cross over 15 times in my life, the videos and booklets always have a guy and say the same thing about clutching his chest and/or bicep.
And people laugh when I tell them women are still invisible in this world.”
RSS feed for comments to this post