Women's bodies have become a battleground for legislators in recent days. Last week, the House voted 240-185 to defund Planned Parenthood and all Title X services. This is not just about stopping abortion...this includes HIV/STI testing & mammograms among other vital women's health services. Don't believe the hype.Jill from Feministe breaks down what this means for women's health services as a whole:
By law, federal funds haven’t paid for abortions since the 1970s, so the House hasn’t voted to cut abortion funding. They’re cutting funding for the entire Title X program — funding for contraception, cancer screening, STI tests, sex education, mammograms, HIV testing and diagnosis, and pregnancy screening and counseling. Title X is the only federal program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and preventive health services, particularly low-income families.This legislation, known as the Pence Amendment, blocks federal funding from these services thus affecting low-income women. This affects freelancers and small business owners like myself without the comfort of health insurance among women who depend on Medicaid or public services. However, this amendment would have pass in the Democratically-controlled Senate (which is unlikely) and furthermore President Obama has promised not to approve a GOP budget.
So what's the problem here? If Planned Parenthood and Title X won't be defunded, why care? Lori at Feministing explains that the anti-choice GOP legislators aim to stigmatize normal reproductive health services such as pap smears, pregnancy testing and birth control counseling and what lies beneath the rhetoric:
In short, more than an attempt at “fiscal restraint”, the GOP attack on Planned Parenthood is an act of shameful political theater meant to create shame and embarrassment around issues of reproductive health- and the more we treat it as just a budget issue, the more we enable their cultural war.
I don't know about you but I'm disgusted. If you are frustrated with the politicization of our bodies and sexuality then my NYC folks can join this Saturday's Rally for Women's Health in lower Manhattan's Foley Square (across from the courthouse). Various Planned Parenthood affiliates, along with Raising Women's Voices, Trust Women, NOW New York City, New York Civil Liberties Union and numerous other organizations have coordinated the event and Gloria Steinem is set to share some words.
If you care about women, show your support either in person or online. Only with strength in numbers can we send a message to legislators that women's bodies are not a political playground. I'll be there...come find me, the rowdy chick with a faux-hawk hat and a yellow tambourine :)
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