A few weeks ago, the Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner signed a rule that specifically excluded Planned Parenthood from receiving any funding from the Medicaid Woman’s Health Program. As a result, the federal government has officially ended the federal funding for that program in Texas.
In February of 2012, Tom Seuhs, the Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner, signed a law that was designed to specifically exclude Planned Parenthood from receiving any of the funding that is earmarked for the Medicaid Women’s Health Program (WHP). Some of the funding for the program comes from the state of Texas, but the majority of it, 90%, comes from the federal government.
The Medicaid Women’s Health Program (WHP) provides funding for the basic preventative care that women need. This includes things like cancer screenings, reproductive health care, and birth control. The program is for low-income women who live in Texas and who do not qualify for the regular Medicaid program. More than 124,000 low-income Texas women use WHP.
Planned Parenthood just so happens to be the largest provider of women’s health care in the state of Texas. Eleven clinics have already had to close as a result of losing the WHP funding. Obviously, this means that the thousands of women who use the WHP program are going to have an extremely difficult time trying to find access to women’s health care.
The reason why legislators in Texas chose to exclude Planned Parenthood from receiving WHP funding is because they are confused about, or somehow unaware of, other laws. There are laws in place that prevent “taxpayer money” from being used to pay for abortions.
The law that excluded Planned Parenthood from WHP funding was signed because lawmakers mistakingly believed that the funding would be used to pay for abortions. The result is that thousands of Texas women have lost their access to cancer screenings, birth control, and all other forms of women’s health care. It is worth noting that the law only excludes Planned Parenthood, and does not mention any other clinics.
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, has officially stated that federal funding for the Women’s Health Program in Texas will now end. Historically, when a state chooses not to spend federal funding on things that the funding was earmarked for, the state ends up losing the funding. This should not have been a surprise to anyone.
Governor Rick Perry has been making statements that appear to be an attempt to shift the blame from cutting off access to health care for thousands of low-income women in his state from himself to the Obama administration. He said:
“The federal government should not be in the business of protecting abortion providers at the expense of the health of Texas women”.
His statement makes two things abundantly clear. Governor Rick Perry is unable to grasp the fact that there are laws that specifically state that federal funding cannot be used to pay for abortions. He also is unable to comprehend that the reason women in Texas are losing access to health care is because of a law that was signed in the state of Texas, (not a law created by the federal government).
Image by Calsidyrose on Flickr