Yesterday, the Indiana legislature passed a bill to eliminate $2 million in federal funding that Planned Parenthood receives—or two-thirds of its budget. Most of the eliminated money is Medicaid funds. If signed into law, Indiana will be the first state to ban the use of Medicaid at Planned Parenthood clinics.
But it gets worse: The bill also ban abortions after 20 weeks and requires doctors to tell women who are seeking abortions that the procedure is linked to infertility—which is a gross lie—and that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks or earlier.
Now the measure sits on the desk of Republican Governor—and potential GOP presidential contender—Mitch Daniels:
Daniels, who has positioned himself as a fiscal conservative focused on the deficit, created some controversy in 2010 when he called for a “truce” within the Republican party over social issues such as abortion. Whether the governor decides to embrace this conservative bill could signal if he’s attempting to get back in the good graces of social conservatives and make a serious bid for the White House.
Daniels has said he would announce whether he was running for president after the Indiana legislative session. The session ends tomorrow, but the governor told the Star he has yet to make up his mind, so he “absolutely” won’t be making any announcement this weekend.
Governor Daniels obviously has a lot to weigh over this weekend, namely, the value of women’s health in his state versus a long-shot presidential bid. Push him in the right direction by emailing him here or giving him a call at 317-232-4567. Hoosier women don’t deserve to be lied to, or have their access to health care crippled by bigots.
Hearts and butterflies to Angel in Indy for the tip.
I hated to send you the article from the hideously right-wing Indy Star, but my hometown newspaper, the Bloomington Herald-Times, charges for internet access. There has been very little attention given to this hateful legislation by the tv stations. I guess there’s not really time to worry about it, what with the wedding coming up.
Also, the article in the Bloomington paper makes it clear that the state will lose millions in federal funding, because you can’t tell people where they can’t go for Medicaid-funded health care, so the state won’t get any money for it. But as we know, they don’t want to fund birth control or cancer prevention, because they hate women.
Would this bill keep a doctor from saying “I am required by state law to tell you this,(blah blah blah) but that is medically untrue, the truth is ….”?
So, the Indiana GOP is willing forgo their ENTIRE federal Medicaid allocation just to prevent PP from getting their share?
How’s that quote from the Bible go again? You know, the one about cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?
Wow! Indiana doing something more backwards than Mississippi.
I’m as pro-choice as anyone, but even the article you linked to contradicts what you said. D&Cs, especially multiple ones, are indeed linked to uterine synechiae. Research Asherman’s syndrome for more information. This scarring can cause lasting problems with the uterine lining, which can mean infertility, difficulty keeping pregnancies to term (miscarriage/preterm birth risk), and perhaps scarier, placenta accreta in a subsequent pregnancy, which means that because the lining is worn away the placenta attaches deeper within the uterus and its detachment when a baby is born can cause severe hemorrhaging.
I don’t think a bill MANDATING this information is necessarily appropriate, but I also feel like the pro-choice movement, in an attempt to legitimize abortion, plays down these risks. I recently discovered that I had some uterine scarring after a single, presumably uncomplicated D&C at 11 weeks. I had no idea this was even a risk.