General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Obama Administration Rescues Defunded Planned Parenthoods"
Ten Republican-controlled state legislatures have voted to defund Planned Parenthood since the 2010 midterm elections, but the clinics affected by the cuts will not have to shut their doors any time soon. The Obama administration so far has awarded hefty new federal family planning grants to Planned Parenthood clinics in three states that have cut the providers' funding: New Jersey, Tennessee and North Carolina.
A Planned Parenthood clinic in Durham, N.C., was awarded a $426,000 Title X grant on Wednesday, just weeks after the state legislature overrode Gov. Bev Perdue's (D) veto and cut $343,000 in state money from the provider's budget. Anti-abortion lawmakers and advocacy groups are furious that the Department of Health and Human Services seems to have circumvented state legislatures to continue funding an organization they oppose.
-snip-
Paige Johnson, a spokesperson for the Planned Parenthood clinic in Durham, said that clinic has never appealed to HHS for Title X grants because it was always able to partner with the state. But after the state stopped contracting with Planned Parenthood, the clinic made the case to HHS that it is the primary provider of family planning to low-income women in the area. Under federal law, HHS is required to award grant funds in a manner that expands womens access to care in the most cost-effective way possible in areas of the greatest need.
"When you talk to these people that work in the federal family planning program, the people that work behind the scenes reading these grants, they're public health advocates. They want people to receive the best care possible, and they'd like politics removed from it," she told The Huffington Post. "They're real believers in these programs, and they knew who delivers. We got the grant because we deliver for North Carolina." The new grant, which is nearly three times the size of the $125,000 the Durham clinic received annually from the state, will allow the clinic to extend its services to men as well as women and expand its education and teen counseling programs, Johnson said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/planned-parenthoods-obama-title-x-grants_n_1706303.html
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,708 posts)also slapped down Indiana's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood (by banning Medicaid coverage of PP) in court!
appal_jack
(3,813 posts)Choice matters.
Women's health matters.
Keeping the Presidency in Obama's hands matters.
As a North Carolinian, this step really matters to me.
-app
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,708 posts)they remember not-so-insignificant things like this when they go into the voting booths (or whether or not to even to show up at the polls). A McCain/Palin (mis-)administration wouldn't be worrying about things like this nor lifting a pinky to do anything about this. The person in charge at 1600 Pennsylvania may be constrained a lot by the idiots in Congress but he/she can still wield some powerful influence over things like this.
Daniels tried to reassure people that there were plenty of "alternatives" to PP but, from what I could remember, his administration could only identify a few small clinics throughout the entire state of Indiana.
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)ananda
(29,948 posts)nt
I have my policy disagreements, but this shows that the POTUS' heart is clearly in the right place on a very important issue.
Pirate Smile
(27,617 posts)Tarheel_Dem
(31,411 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)and I will never forget that!
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)I'll bet the Pugs are furious.
tanyev
(43,998 posts)Thank you, President Obama.
caseymoz
(5,763 posts)Almost everything is forgiven.
spanone
(137,267 posts)amen....
emulatorloo
(45,468 posts)klook
(12,690 posts)BumRushDaShow
(137,862 posts)AzDar
(14,023 posts)ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)...that alone gets my vote, along with quite a few other things.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,590 posts)HaHa!!!
Pirate Smile
(27,617 posts)babylonsister
(171,421 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Kudos to the Obama administration for looking out for women's health and ensuring reproductive freedom.
Mr Dixon
(1,185 posts)Got to love it,HE has my vote to tell the truth he has always had my Vote OBAMA 2012
CTyankee
(64,521 posts)I have 3 granddaughters. There is no way in hell that I am going to sit back and let their constitutional rights be taken away from them.
Let's not forget who will be deciding on our next one, two or three Supreme Court Justices either!
MineralMan
(147,024 posts)Don't worry. We'll get you that second term.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)"Both parties are the same!1!" fools.
Julie
lastlib
(24,395 posts)For Pres. Obama:
perdita9
(1,160 posts)Signed,
Women everywhere.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)chknltl
(10,558 posts)If the gop fraudsters let me, I will vote for President Obama again.
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)thanks Pirate Smile