Planned Parenthood Condemns Attacks on Women’s Health in F18 House Appropriations Package

WASHINGTON D.C. - Planned Parenthood condemns the F18 House funding package, which would be devastating for women and their health care.

Statement of Dana Singiser, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

Planned Parenthood condemns the House FY18 funding bill. Since day one, the Trump administration and Congressional leadership has shown a fundamental disdain for the reality of women’s health and lives. The bill blocks access to care at Planned Parenthood, targeting the 2.4 million people who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for their care each year. Extreme politicians in Congress want to take women backwards, and that’s exactly what this funding bill would do.

“This bill is more extreme than the Trump Administration’s own budget. In fact, members of the House passed an amendment so extreme that would go even further to hurt women by allowing workplace discrimination in the District of Columbia based on personal reproductive health care decisions. If this package becomes law, it would endanger women’s health and lives here in the United States and across the globe. Not only are attacks on women’s health and health care access unpopular, but it is also irresponsible to take this country backwards. People want to see policymakers working to improve health care access and rights for women, not take them away.

Additionally, the package continues longstanding, harmful riders, like the continuation of the Hyde amendment, which targets low income women’s access to safe, legal abortion by keeping Medicaid and other government insurance plans from covering abortion.

Some of the provisions in the omnibus spending package are more extreme than the Trump Administration’s own budget - and members of the House are pushing an amendment that would allow discrimination based on reproductive health care decisions.

• The Labor-HHS Appropriations bill would prevent millions of people from coming to Planned Parenthood for basic health care, and completely eliminate Title X — the nation’s only federal program for birth control that 4 million women rely on each year. And despite the progress we’ve made in helping teens stay safe and healthy -- rates of unintended pregnancy among teens in the U.S. have reached a historic low -- the bill would eliminate the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and fund abstinence-only education programs. Additionally, this bill includes sweeping new religious refusal    language allowing employers, insurers, and health care providers to deny others access    to abortion.

• The State and Foreign Operations bill would slash funding for international family planning and codify the expanded global gag rule. For the first time ever, the bill targets international organizations who work on any U.S. funded global health program, including HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, maternal and child health, and Zika programs. Reducing U.S. investments in family planning will put women's lives at risk.

• The Financial Services bill would restrict abortion access by banning abortion coverage in multi-state insurance plans under the ACA and continue harmful provisions to restrict abortion access, including banning the District of Columbia from using its own own funds to pay for abortion services for low-income women and prohibiting federal employees from receiving abortion insurance coverage. The House also passed an amendment on the floor offered by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL-6) that would block Washington, D.C.’s Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment (RHNDA) Act, legislation that protects employees who work in D.C. from workplace discrimination based on their personal reproductive health care decisions, like using birth control or in vitro fertilization.

• The Homeland Security bill would block women in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention from needed health care by banning abortion coverage except in cases of rape, incest, and to protect the woman’s life.

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Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 600 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood affiliates serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives