Recently at an Iowa town hall meeting, a woman named Shirley Grant called Congressman Steve King and other Republicans to task for their attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. Even as Republican pundits have endeavored to paint this organization as one that ONLY provides abortions, Grant politely pointed out that Planned Parenthood provides many healthcare services and "the political arena has made a big mistake" for not continuing to fund the organization.
For those unfamiliar with Planned Parenthood, abortion is quite low on the list of services... some of the many services they provide include mammograms, cholesterol, high blood pressure, thyroid and diabetes screenings, flu vaccines, as well as reproductive services for women and men.
So, why exactly is this organization targeted?
From my perspective, it's all about women having equal access to good healthcare.
Because of Republican-led efforts across the nation, Planned Parenthood is currently under attack in multiple states... it's already been defunded in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Indiana, Wisconsin, and of course, Texas. A recent federal ruling declaring this legislation unconstitutional in Indiana has halted further defunding in other states, at least for the moment.
Hostility seems to go hand-in-hand when discussing women's rights to controlling their health care needs.
The People's View website commented "Among women voters in swing states, healthcare was the top issue respondents said would influence their vote for president, followed by gas prices and unemployment. Among men, the top issue was the deficit and national debt. Healthcare ranked third, and unemployment ranked fifth." This information seemed to acknowledge the importance of access to decent healthcare among females... and unfortunately Republicans (and the frontrunner) don't seem understand (or care) what this information portends in the upcoming election. Rather than address the issue squarely, Romney has continually referred to the gender-gap healthcare issue as a Democratic distraction.
Even as the courageous constituent Shirley Grant decided it was time to speak out in defense of Planned Parenthood, it'll be up to women across this country to speak out strongly against the Republican onslaught as they step into the voter's booth come November.
Either that, or we'll all continue to see an erosion of equitable healthcare.
No comments:
Post a Comment