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Promote Economic Recovery, Support Family Planning
Tell Congress and President Obama that the Economic Recovery package may be "shovel ready," but poor women got the axe.
As you may have heard, an important family planning provision was unceremoniously dumped from the economic recovery package this week, after Republican leaders and conservative pundits complained about it all weekend.
Take Action NOW!
More specifically, the Medicaid Family Planning State Option was dropped from the economic recovery package after House Republicans asserted that family planning for poor women is "too expensive" and would not lead to job creation. Never mind that the targeted provision actually saves money -- and many other provisions of the plan don't create jobs either -- because job creation isn't the sole purpose of the recovery bill.
Nevertheless, the Obama administration acquiesced to Republican pressure and asked Congress to remove this simple provision that would allow all states to do what 27 states are already allowed to do -- namely use their Medicaid funds to provide family planning services for a greater number of poor women.
Take action NOW, and urge Congress and the Obama administration to take immediate action to pass the Medicaid Family Planning State Option.
Why This Is Important:
In times of job loss and economic desperation, many women and families cannot afford the increasingly high cost of contraception -- nor can they afford the alternative. Our leaders need to hear from you that the ability to prevent an unplanned pregnancy is key to economic security.
Join NOW in telling Congress and the Obama administration that women in today's precarious economy are facing unintended job loss, unintended home foreclosures, unintended loss of health care, and unintended stress about the economic health of their families and our nation. They should not be faced with unintended pregnancy.
Use our formatted message to send your message right away. You can also call the White House Switchboard at 202-456-1414 and leave a message about your concerns.
Action Needed:
You can send your message in an email via NOW's website or you can make a phone call instead.
To reach the office of your member of Congress, just call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and they will connect you. To leave a message for President Obama, call the White House at 202-456-1414 (you can leave a recorded message).
Please consider forwarding this action alert on to friends and family. We need to generate hundreds of thousands of messages!
Background:
This past weekend, House Republican leaders like Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) went on the television talk shows to criticize the Democrats' recovery package, in particular attacking the Medicaid Family Planning State Option. Boehner and other birth-control opponents just don't get it (or don't want to get it).
They apparently don't understand that avoiding an unplanned pregnancy has a lot to do with climbing out of poverty. Republicans who oppose expanding access to contraceptives are clearly out of touch with the 86 percent of the public (including 4 out of 5 Republicans) who support publicly-funded family planning services.
The Medicaid Family Planning State Option will allow the 23 states that currently do not have a waiver to use Medicaid funds to provide basic health care services to more low-income women. The advantage is obvious. Low-income women are four times as likely to have an unintended pregnancy as higher income women. In addition to the benefit to an individual woman of preventing an unintended pregnancy, there is also a significant savings to Medicaid. For every $1 spent on preventing unwanted pregnancies, $4 in prenatal and delivery costs are spared. As one member of Congress put it, "This is the only Medicaid expansion that actually saves money."
It is likely too late to get the Medicaid Family Planning State Option back into the recovery package, because the House just voted Wednesday on the recovery bill, while the Senate will send its economic recovery package to the floor next week. But Congress can add it as an amendment to other pending legislation, or in the upcoming budget, and we need to insist on it.
Some political observers commented that dropping the Medicaid Family Planning State Option was an easy give-away for the Democrats. Others voiced that they were concerned that the new administration may be far too anxious to please its critics than reach out to its supporters. Either way, dumping family planning is no way to help low-income families survive this crisis.
Please join NOW in educating our leaders about the importance of family planning, and in demanding that the president request and Congress pass the Medicaid Family Planning provisions at the first opportunity.
More Information:
Medicaid Family Planning Provision Expands Health Care for Women, Planned Parenthood
Medicaid Family Planning State Option, (PDF) March of Dimes
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