Bush Administration Rule Change Severely Threatens Women's Health

Below is the letter Planned Parenthood Federation of America President, Cecile Richards, sent out last night. You may have heard that this was coming up, like I did, but it's still unfathomable that the Bush Administration would betray women like this as they leave office.

Here's the gist: The president's rule within the Department of Health and Human Servies (HHS) lets health care providers define abortion, which could threaten access to birth control and broader reproductive health care, and allow federal funding for so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" that refuse to inform patients of or provide patients with a full range of reproductive health care options.

With abortion being left undefined, it means that "the regulation creates all sorts of space for ideology and political views to insinuate themselves into medical practices, emergency rooms and clinics all across the country and when that happens women will suffer.”

Please take action and encourage your friends to as well- we've got 30 days of public review to show them that this IS NOT OK.

Not under our watch,
Dessa

From Cecile:

At 2:00 this afternoon, the Bush administration launched an attack on women's health care and reproductive rights that has put Planned Parenthood and the people it serves in the fight of their lives.

We need your help today — and over the next few weeks — to fight back. Thank you in advance for standing with us during this critical time.

For the past month, we have been aware that the Bush administration was planning to release a rule that would limit the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate birth control and other reproductive health information and services. With your help, we did all we could to stop the president from going through with the threat to release the new rule. But Bush was intent on delivering this "gift" to his extreme anti-choice supporters before he left office. Today was their lucky day.

You can bet that anti-choice activists are thrilled that President Bush made good on his promise to them. This rule will allow them to receive federal funds for so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" — anti-choice facilities whose purpose is to deceive and dissuade women from accessing birth control and abortion information and services.

A woman’s ability to manage her own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology. The new regulation complicates rather than clarifies the law. It lets health care providers define abortion, which could threaten broader reproductive health care, including contraception. This is just one more instance of the Bush administration putting politics in the exam room.

We've got a fight on our hands — and it's a big one. We have 30 days to dispute the rule with everything we've got. That includes you. It is during crises like the one happening today when your support for Planned Parenthood and the people it serves is most needed. We're launching a massive campaign immediately.

When more and more families are uninsured and have difficulty accessing health care at all, implementing a rule that will limit access to health services is utterly perplexing. The Bush administration's outrageous actions never cease to amaze me, but this one is beyond belief. It will hurt the women who most need help at a time when they are most vulnerable. It's unconscionable, and it is wrong. And, once again, it's our job to stop it.

www.ppfa.org

Thank you, thank you, for your help today and during the next few weeks.

Sincerely,

Cecile Richards, President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund