With the exception of Mary Bono Mack, California's House delegation voted down party lines last week to revoke all federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Nominally, the move was to prevent federal funding from supporting the full range of legal, reproductive choices to which women are entitled. But thanks to the long-standing Hyde Amendment compromise, federal funds cannot fund abortion services anyways. And so this move -- which will not reduce the deficit and will eliminate jobs rather than create any -- is simply a direct attack on basic primary and preventive health care.
Let's be clear. At best, the rhetoric about reproductive choice used by opponents of Planned Parenthood is an excuse; an attractive smokescreen. This is a fundamental attack on basic health services for underserved communities of all kinds throughout the country. It's a revocation of access to basic breast, cervical and other cancer screenings, basic health exams, HIV testing, contraception and birth control for many millions of Americans- including an estimated 1.4 million who would be cut off from their health care by the Pence amendment.
And it isn't as though other existing health programs for these communities are in a position to pick up the slack. Prospective budget cuts stretch as far as the eye can see, and wide swaths of our communities are already struggling to have basic needs met. Heck, San Diego doesn't even have a county hospital. Against this backdrop, we have Planned Parenthood -- a program with nearly a century of proven effectiveness and serving millions each year -- targeted specifically because it's been such an effective support mechanism.
Many lawmakers remain expressly opposed to the wide-ranging health care reforms passed last year to expand care to millions of Americans who have struggled without for generations. And many have already assembled long resumes of attempts to prevent women from having health care freedom and access in whatever form possible. They haven't had much luck yet repealing or dismantling the reforms from last year, though they continue to try. In the meantime, they're pressing anywhere possible to undermine the basic health infrastructure in this country- the pieces that provide care to those who insurance companies don't find sufficiently profitable.
This Saturday, there are solidarity events for those who are protesting in Wisconsin for basic workers rights. And there are also events to support the vital work of Planned Parenthood scheduled in San Francisco and Los Angeles. You can also get more info on Twitter at @WalkforChoice
Grabbing for everything at once, hoping that not everything can be defended at once isn't an entirely unreasonable strategy. But it's unconscionable to cut off millions of Americans from the most basic of preventive care and life-saving screenings for cancer and HIV, from access to fundamental, legal and widely accepted birth control and contraceptives. Which is why it's so important that we resist every time to defend vital elements of our community-health structure.
