Date: 2011-02-17
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. sadly. our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have no idea how to create jobs or turn the economy around. so their true colors have come to the surface. And Speaker BOEHNER made that clear when asked about the potential job losses that will result from horrendous budget cuts that we have been debating for the last couple of days. when he responded. so be it. So I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote "no" on this amendment. This is a dangerously ideologically motivated stunt that will imperil the lives and wellbeing of millions of women and their families. This amendment is not just a war on Planned Parenthood. as the gentleman from Indiana said. Its a war on women. Planned Parenthood clinics are a crucial part of our national health care fabric. Through Federal funds. including Medicaid reimbursements and title X funding on an annual basis. Planned Parenthood health centers are able to offer nearly one million lifesaving screenings for cervical cancer. 830.000 breast examination. contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients. nearly 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections. including HIV. and education programs for 1.2 million individuals. These are much needed services that we could not afford to lose. In addition to completely defunding Planned Parenthood. this amendment would also strike all Federal funding for title X programs. This would be a colossal mistake and truly a matter of life and death to millions of women nationwide. Since 1970. the title X family planning program has been a key component of our Nations health care infrastructure and an essential element in the winning strategy to reduce unintended pregnancies. Today title X serves over 5 million lowincome individuals every year. In every State. women and men rely on title X for basic primary and preventative health care including annual exams. lifesaving cancer screenings. contraception and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. In fact. in 2009 alone title X providers performed 2.2 million Pap tests. 2.3 million breast exams. and over 6 million tests for sexually transmitted diseases. including nearly a million HIV tests. As a breast cancer survivor whose cancer was caught at the earliest stage. like my friend from Connecticut. I know how critical these screenings are in saving womens lives. And preventative care isnt limited to cancer screenings and education on how to avoid STDs. Supporters of this bill mistakenly argue that this cut is necessary to prevent Federal funding for abortions. Let me be clear: Federal funding for abortions is already prohibited by law. This has been the case for decades. Yet this amendment attempts to take funding prohibitions to an unconscionable new level and. if passed. will result in millions of women not being able to obtain necessary preventive care like birth control and cancer screenings. If Republicans truly want to reduce abortions in this country. they would vote against this amendment. Indeed. title X actually reduces the number of abortions. Title X services help to prevent nearly 1 million unintended pregnancies each year. almost half of which would otherwise end in abortion. Current statistics from the Gutmacher Institute indicate that nearly half of pregnancies in the United States are unintended. We should be providing women and their families with the resources they need. not striking them. Indeed. Planned Parenthood and the title X program provide vital family planning services which help improve the life of the mother and the child. Its a simple fact. Family planning keeps women and children healthy. When women plan their pregnancies. they are more likely to seek prenatal care. improving their own health and the health of their children. In fact. access to family planning is directly linked to the declines in maternal and infant mortality rates. There should be no shadow of a doubt that this amendment is antiwoman and antifamily. While my colleague from Indiana may frame this amendment in the context of fiscal responsibility. that is once again a mistaken premise. This amendment would not cut the deficit. In fact. title X actually saves taxpayer dollars. Since many of the patients Hi160 served by title X are on Medicaid. preventative care like cancer screenings and contraceptive counseling actually means fewer costs to the taxpayer in the long run. Indeed. for every public dollar invested in family planning. $3.74 is saved in Medicaidrelated costs. Thats savings to both Federal and State governments. And one of the most detrimental and dangerous things we could do to women and their families right now is to defund the leading title X provider nationwide. Planned Parenthood. Every year. Planned Parenthood works tirelessly to improve the health of communities across this country. Six in 10 women who access care from centers like Planned Parenthood say it is their main source of health care. We cannot cut these women off from the health services that should be available to all of them. Efforts to undermine the title X program and this essential health care provider are not only reckless. they are also antiwoman. antichild. and antitaxpayer. Madam Chair. this is a horrendous amendment that would devastate access to health care for millions of American women and should be defeated.