House Targets Women’s Access to Reproductive Health Care by Eliminating Funding for Planned Parenthood

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, February 18, 2011

CONTACT:

NAF Communications Department
202-667-5881
press@prochoice.org

Statement of Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF):

Today, the House of Representatives continued its attack on the reproductive health of American women by voting to eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood health centers.

Planned Parenthood provides important reproductive health care services to women and their families. One of the sources of funding that would be eliminated is the Title X family planning program.

For more than 35 years, the Title X program has been a hallmark of quality preventive care, enabling practitioners, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, to provide family planning and preventative health care services like HIV testing and cancer screenings to low-income individuals.

This amendment, introduced by Representative Mike Pence (R-Ind), targets Planned Parenthood because some of their facilities provide abortion care—even though under current law, Planned Parenthood is already prohibited from using any federal funding to provide abortion care.

Once the House passes the overall budget measure, it will move to the Senate. NAF calls on the Senate to defeat this latest attack on women and ensure that women and their families can access the comprehensive reproductive health care services they need.

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The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers in North America. Our mission is to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion care to promote health and justice for women. Our members include health care professionals at clinics, doctors’ offices, and hospitals, who together care for more than half the women in North America who choose abortion each year. For more information, visit our website at www.prochoice.org.