Departments Of Labor, Health, And Human Services, And Education, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. NADLER of New York. Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to the amendment offered by my colleague, Representative Mike Pence, which would prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving Title X family planning funds.

For many women and men, the area Planned Parenthood is their only source of health care. In my home state of New York, more than 30 percent of Title X providers are Planned Parenthood health centers. Planned Parenthood is an essential community health provider, acting as a source of primary care for thousands of women and men. In addition to providing routine gynecological exams, cervical cancer screenings and breast exams, Planned Parenthood clinics also offer anemia testing, cholesterol screening, diabetes screening, employment and sports physicals, high blood pressure screening, physical examinations, smoking cessation, thyroid screening, adoptive services, prenatal services, and childbirth classes.

Despite the important role that Planned Parenthood plays in the health care delivery system in communities across the country, the Pence amendment would single out Planned Parenthood and prohibit it from receiving Title X funding for one reason--because, in addition to the multitude of other health services they offer for women and men, Planned Parenthood also offers abortion services--services that are lawful and constitutionally protected, and which are NOT paid for with a single federal tax dollar.

Mr. Chair, at its heart, the Pence amendment seeks to punish a single health care entity for providing a lawful, constitutionally protected service. Put another way, the Pence amendment hopes to force Planned Parenthood to abandon the exercise of a lawful act, which is inextricably and critically tied to a woman's constitutional right to reproductive services. This amendment--in addition to being misguided and mean-spirited--is suspect, at best, and is an unconstitutional condition, at worst.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote "no'' on the Pence amendment.

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