Tell the Senate: Don’t defund Planned Parenthood
Right-wing extremists want to control women’s bodies by controlling and limiting their access to reproductive health care, and Planned Parenthood is their most important target.
Last week, Speaker Paul Ryan confirmed that Republicans in Congress will move to defund Planned Parenthood as early as next month. They plan to fast track a bill that would dismantle parts of the Affordable Care Act and strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding through a legislative process called “reconciliation.”1That means the bill can’t be filibustered and just needs a simple majority in the Senate to become law.
This is the fight that we’ve been bracing for. We need 51 senators to refuse to wage war on America’s women and defend the millions of people who depend on Planned Parenthood every year. It’s time for us to speak out louder than ever and demand that senators hold the line against this anti-woman attack.
When they try to defund Planned Parenthood, right-wing extremists are putting the lives of millions of people, primarily low-income people of color, at risk. More than 2.5 million people rely on Planned Parenthood every year to access life-saving health care like cancer screenings, birth control, STD testing and treatment and abortion.2Most Planned Parenthood patients are low-income and for many, Planned Parenthood is the only health center that provides reproductive health services in their area.
It’s important to remember that the Republican-led “war on women” is an attempt to maintain systemic gender oppression and uphold the patriarchy. Planned Parenthood doesn’t just provide health care, it also protects and expands women’s rights through its advocacy. So when right-wing Republicans try to defund Planned Parenthood, they’re trying to take down one of the most influential organizations of the feminist movement. We can’t let them do that.
Here’s what it will take to win. Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer has to make sure there’s a firm Democratic firewall. That includes Sen. Joe Manchin, who has previously voted to defund Planned Parenthood. At least two Republicans also need to stand with women and against their party’s misogyny by refusing to defund Planned Parenthood. That’s within our reach.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are so far declining to approve a bill with the Planned Parenthood provision in it. If there’s enough grassroots pressure, other Republicans may be willing to join them. Given that their party is now led by someone who has bragged about committing sexual assault, protecting Planned Parenthood from defunding is Republicans’ chance to prove that they actually care about women like they say they do and are willing to fight for them.
CREDO is Planned Parenthood’s biggest corporate donor, and our members sent more than $164,334 to Planned Parenthood and its affiliates in 2016. We need to make sure our support is just as strong now. CREDO is all in for Planned Parenthood. Are you? Demand that the Senate refuse to approve any bill that will cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood now.
Originally published at act.credoaction.com.
