A bill banning public funding of Planned Parenthood and other groups that provide elective abortions passed out of the New Hampshire House yesterday with a 60-vote majority, as Republicans rejected a report by the committee assigned to study the issue but fell short of the support needed to override a potential veto by the governor.First, "sovereign citizen"? What? Who talks like that? Second: problem! See, Medicaid covers abortion in very, very, very limited cases. Your legislation?
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"For many New Hampshire women, Planned Parenthood is the only affordable option for health care. This legislation puts at risk basic access to cost-effective, preventive services such as cancer screenings, breast exams, access to birth control and other disease prevention services," said Jennifer Frizzell, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England's senior policy adviser, in a statement after the vote.[...]
Republican Rep. Susan DeLemus of Rochester was first to speak on the floor in support of the bill.
"As a sovereign citizen, I do not ever want to contribute to the stopping of a baby's heart with my tax dollars," she said.
The bill prevents the Department of Health and Human Services from entering into a contract with any organization that provides abortions not funded by Medicaid, which covers the procedure in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is in danger.So your tax dollars? Never funded any abortion at Planned Parenthood (or other clinic, office, or hospital) that wasn't already covered--and still covered & paid for--by Medicaid. Your "tax dollars", oh Sovereign Citizen, are STILL paying for abortion in the limited cases that they were already. Whooops! You don't know what you're talking about are supporting legislation that you appear to be ignorant of!
The House, in passing this bill, blew off its own committee (made up of a 2:1 republican majority) report that recommended killing it. The bill now goes to the Senate. Governor John Lynch is outright opposed to the legislation and the House did not provide a veto-proof vote.
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In Ohio, the asinine "heartbeat" legislation is going to get another hearing in the state senate after the primaries:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The leader of the Ohio Senate says hearings on a bill that would impose the nation's strictest abortion limit will resume after the state's March 6 primary.So now you know what I will be writing about come March!
Senate President Tom Niehaus (NEE'-hows) told reporters on Wednesday that his chamber would take up the measure after the primary contests. He did not further explain the timing or decision.
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In Kansas, where abortion and draining the state of funds via lawsuits over legislation appear to be an obsession with certain legislators, the state House is moving forward with the odious "personhood" nonsense.
More than two dozen members of the Kansas House of Representatives have endorsed an amendment to the state constitution that would make abortion illegal in the state, potentially posing a constitutional challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court precedent set by Roe v. Wade.Same tired stuff there. BUT! Check out what they're putting ON THE BALLOT (emphasis mine):
The proposed amendment, which is expected to be introduced in the House this session, is the latest set of "personhood" legislation being weighed by state lawmakers. If passed by voters in November, the amendment would guarantee the rights of "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" to individuals of all ages -- including the unborn -- by declaring that life begins the moment a woman's egg is fertilized.
An explanation of the measure that would printed on the ballot in November emphasizes that a vote against it would not amend the state constitution, meaning "the current federally mandated legal status of preborn humans would remain that of a class of human beings that can intentionally be killed."ON. THE. BALLOT. Gee, that's NOT AT ALL misleading, biased bullshit now it it?
The bill, however, has to pass by 2/3 majority before voters get to see that garbage nightmare of leading, emotionally-charged bullshit.
The article ends with noting:
Personhood efforts have recently been introduced in Virginia, Nevada, and Ohio. Similar efforts are also underway in California, Montana, Arkansas, Florida and Colorado.
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Deep in the heart of Texas, poor, un- and under-insured people are SOL. This is according to a report released by the Dept. of State Health Services.
Following a legislative session where lawmakers slashed funding for family planning and targeted Planned Parenthood, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has released a much-reduced list of organizations that will receive state dollars to provide birth control, STD testing and cervical and breast cancer screenings for the state's poorest women.But at least Planned Parenthood is barely getting any money, amirite?!?!
Between now and March 31, 2013, 41 womens' health providers will receive a total of $12.4 million, down from 71 agencies in the last biennium.
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In the last legislative session, lawmakers gutted family planning funding for all providers by two-thirds, from $111.5 million during the 2010-2011 biennium to $37.9 million over the next two years.
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DSHS reported that 12 women's health applicants were denied funding because their regions were already covered by “tier one” providers. For instance, the Lone Star Community Health Center clinics in Montgomery County didn’t receive funding because their area is already covered by clinics associated with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Williams said even though Planned Parenthood clinics are not on the list of the agency's 41 official contractors, three Planned Parenthood chapters are receiving some temporary funding over the next few months. In those cases, either no one else from their regions applied, or other applicants didn't meet the criteria for funding. Williams said the state still has about $2 million available in its family planning budget, and has posted a request for additional applicants for that money.
“We want to make sure that we are adhering to legislative intent and that women are able to get care seamlessly,” Williams said. “The re-compete is to make sure other entities, such as associations, were aware of the opportunity to apply for these funds.”
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Even among those who received a grant, there are concerns that the state cut too deeply into a program that used to serve 220,000 women every year. Under the current budget, DSHS estimates about 60,000 people will be able to continue to receive birth control and disease testing.
Lone Star Circle of Care, an FQHC with clinics throughout Central Texas, will receive $322,488 over the next 14 months — enough to cover only 20 percent of the family planning costs the clinic incurred in 2011. The state used to provide enough funding to cover between 70 to 80 percent of the clinic's services.
“It’s not enough compared to the demand we have for these services, so we’re seeking alternative sources of funding to cover the shortfall,” said Rebekah Haynes, Lone Star’s spokeswoman.
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In related news, a new study that was published today in the Lancet shows that abortion rates--particularly unsafe abortions--are higher where contraception is hard to come by and where abortion has been made illegal.
Abortion rates are higher in countries where the procedure is illegal and nearly half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, with the vast majority in developing countries, a new study concludes.All across this country, legislators are attempting to reduce access to contraception and eliminate abortion entirely (as a legal and safe procedure). They defy logic and science and general humanity. And they do not care.
Experts couldn't say whether more liberal laws led to fewer procedures, but said good access to birth control in those countries resulted in fewer unwanted pregnancies.
The global abortion rate remained virtually unchanged from 2003 to 2008, at about 28 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, a total of about 43.8 million abortions, according to the study. The rate had previously been dropping since 1995.
About 47,000 women died from unsafe abortions in 2008, and another 8.5 million women had serious medical complications. Almost all unsafe abortions were in developing countries, where family planning and contraceptive programs have mostly levelled off.
[...]
Abortion rates were lowest in Western Europe 12 per 1,000 and highest in Eastern Europe 43 per 1,000. The rate in North America was 19 per 1,000. Sedgh [Gilda, senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute] said she and colleagues found a link between higher abortion rates and regions with more restrictive legislation, such as in Latin America and Africa. They also found that 95 to 97 per cent of abortions in those regions were unsafe.
The authors defined unsafe abortion as any procedure done by people lacking needed skills or in places that don't meet minimal medical standards. Sedgh said some women in Africa resort to using broken soda bottles or taking strong doses of medicines or herbal drugs to induce abortions.
"It is precisely where abortion is illegal that it must become safer," wrote Beverly Winikoff and Wendy R. Sheldon of the Gynuity Health Projects in New York, in an accompanying commentary.
Experts said increasing birth control options for women in poor countries, like providing long-acting implants, would make a big difference.
"Wherever we have made better contraception available in the countries where we work, hundreds of women will walk hours to get it," said Dana Hovig, CEO of Marie Stopes International, a family planning organization. He was not connected to the study.
As an aside, none of these posts would exist if SOPA and PIPA were to pass. None.
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