Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

Floor Speech

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Chair, I rise today to object to the amendment submitted by Mr. Pence, which would deny Planned Parenthood health centers federal funding for family planning services, HIV testing and counseling, programs to prevent infertility, and breast and cervical cancer screenings.

The Pence amendment would cut off millions of American women from their only source of primary care. One in five American women has accessed health care at a Planned Parenthood health center. In 2010, Planned Parenthood of New Mexico provided 1,995 Pap smear tests and 281 breast exams. Services such as these save lives.

Instead of focusing on the issues Americans are most concerned about, House Republicans are targeting women's health care programs and women's health providers under the guise of deficit reduction. These proposals do nothing to improve the economy, they will result in job losses, and they will cut off millions of American women from their only source of primary and preventive care. At a time when more and more women and families are facing difficulties in accessing health care due to increasing costs and a struggling economy, members of Congress should be doing everything they can to ensure that women have access to the health care they need and the trusted providers in their community.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment.

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