OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Date: July 24, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Women Labor Unions Health and Health Care Education


DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010 -- (House of Representatives - July 24, 2009)

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Chair, I respectfully oppose the Pence amendment to defund Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood plays a vital and important role in my home state of Indiana. In Indiana, Planned Parenthood serves over 94,000 patients a year. Of those, more than 25,000 women are served through Title X, that's over half of all the women served by the program in our state. In my district, Planned Parenthood is an integral part of the patchwork of safety net providers, which includes county health departments, free standing clinics, and women's health centers.

The simple fact is that we are in the middle of a health care crisis and Planned Parenthood is part of the solution to this crisis. One out of three women, 1.7 million, who receives Title X family planning health care does so at a Planned Parenthood health center. Planned Parenthood affiliates serve a diverse range of women and men throughout their lifetimes, providing family planning and other reproductive health care.

Planned Parenthood health centers are working daily to provide quality, preventive health services. Planned Parenthood runs over 880 non-profit health centers in communities where there are limited affordable, quality health care options. In fact seventy-five percent of Planned Parenthood's patients live under 150% of the federal poverty level. Planned Parenthood provides options counseling for patients facing unintended pregnancies, preventive services including birth control, screening for cervical and breast cancer screenings, immunizations to prevent cervical cancer and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, education and information.

If it were not for Planned Parenthood, thousands of women in my state would not get basic health care at all. That's why I support Planned Parenthood, and oppose the Pence amendment.

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