Right now in D.C., conservative politicians are using the national budget deficit as an excuse to slash federal funding for Planned Parenthood and services for low-income women and families, the Pence Amendment—which cuts $300 million from Planned Parenthood’s cancer screenings and routine check-ups—passed the House a month ago, and they’re not even done yet.
But while some temporarily remarkably sane Republicans have spoken out against cutting federal funds for Planned Parenthood’s basic health care services (thanks, Lisa Murkowski and Scott Brown!*), Washington’s own Congressman Dave Reichert (R-8) has yet to jump on the merry bandwagon of level-headed conservatives.
It’s possible Reichert thinks he’s just doing his job by trying to represent his just barely left-leaning district. But in 2008, when NARAL Pro-Choice Washington polled Puget Sound area voters—including those in the 8th district—on whether or not STI and cancer prevention and annual check-ups for women fall under basic health care, 86 percent said yes, says NARAL’s communications and policy director Allison Mondi. Turns out healthcare isn’t all that controversial.
Maybe he was just off his meds or something? But Mondi says no—this is actually the third time Reichert has voted to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood’s healthcare services. “He has a pretty long track record of voting against really basic, preventative healthcare for women,” she said, when reached by phone yesterday.
Why does Reichert hate women so much? I assume he was birthed from a womb like the rest of us and didn’t spontaneously arise from the bowels of hell a full-grown demon of the patriarchy. But he’s not talking—he even didn’t return my call this morning. Worse still, he unironically lists healthcare on his website as one of his pet issues. Dude’s propensity to be simultaneously cavalier and cowardly is staggering.
*Awkward!
The good news is that Reichert’s blatant disregard for the ladies isn’t flying with pro-choice constituents—NARAL has a protest happening now outside his office on Mercer Island.
Reichert’s attack on women is especially egregious when you juxtapose his voting record with Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell’s strong stances against the proposed cuts. They’ve already spoken out against the cuts on the Senate floor.
If Dave Reichert is your congressman, let him know that you support women’s healthcare. Don’t be shy. He certainly isn’t.
Oh, it certainly sounds as if he has issues, just not in any positive sense.
Show me a Republican, and I will show you an America-hating terrorist.
I’m thinking that if all the women left the US for good citing healthcare as the reason they emigrated, the US would HAVE to allow gay marriage. The florists, caterers, churches and divorce lawyers would gnash their teeth and lobby fiercely.
Isn’t Planned Parenthood a gross anachronism…can’t almost all the information and services it provides be found on the web, or from the school nurse these days?
Why don’t you do a little honest research rather than delivering a bloviating rant, you stupid twit?
Not if you happen to be a part of the 50% that has a penis it doesn’t, no.
@4 It would certainly be more convenient if I could get my pap smear via Google.
@ 4 So tell me you can get medical services on the internets. Or maybe you thinking of that easy chair Newt Gingritch was talking about where you just lay on it and it gives you a medical exam and diagnosis without a doctor. He was saying that this was right around the corner so funding for healthcare would no longer be needed. This was over a decade ago.
Each day you are more ignorant than the next, you babling idiot. No wonder your wife left you.
I don’t understand why anyone would expect Reichert to hold an intelligent or empathetic opinion on anything. The man was elected because he lied about “catching” the Green River Killer. That’s it, in sum.
Actually, the idea of pap smears over the Internet is hilarious! It could be the next big thing from Chat Roulette – Pap Roulette! Some woman all hopped up onto her computer desk with a webcam up her vagina while some dude in Russia says “ok, that looks good! Now can you palpitate your ovaries and tell me if anything feels lumpy? Oh, and show me your tits?”. It’s sure to save JUST as many lives as PP.
@8: I have found google to be a bit rough with the speculum. And as an adult, school nurses keep refusing to give me breast exams, which offends me deeply.
@4 I know you are a troll, but I will bite. Planned Parenthood has become the only place a lot of people go for medical services related to sexual and reproductive health. It is a MAJOR resource for women especially among those who live below the poverty line. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if a lot of the info is on the internet, if that is where people feel safe and are getting their info/services they need, that is where people feel safe and will/should get their services taken care of. There is a lot of information on the internet, and not all of it is correct. By going to planned parenthood you are getting your information from MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, not message boards, and sketchy websites. Taking away funding for such an integral source of medical help for so many people who are poverty stricken is just downright awful.
If gay guys don’t advocate for reproductive rights, I see no point in advocating for their rights.