The Des Moines Register editorial board last week felt the need to wade into Louisiana politics and interject their âexpertiseâ on the health care situation in the Bayou State. They are against Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindalâs Apparently if Planned Parenthood is defunded there are women in Louisiana who will suddenly be stripped of any semblance of health care.
They bring up the teenage birth rate well yes Iâm sure it is higher in states with fewer abortion clinics. They bring up the HIV/AIDS rate, as well as, the syphilis rate being high. They of course neglect to mention the fact New Orleans has a huge homosexual population and the base debauchery that takes place in the city during Mardi Gras and throughout the year makes efforts to curtail those rates a hit and miss proposition. Railing against socially irresponsible behavior isnât a liberal forte. We also donât exactly see Planned Parenthood cautioning against high-risk sex only that people keep it âsafeâ. The only truly âsafe sexâ is abstinence until marriage where then sexual relations are between one man and one woman for life. That is 100% effective and that is not what you see Planned Parenthood advocate. Also keep in mind these are the rates currently with Planned Parenthoodâs presence in the state.
Perhaps they are part of the problem and not the solution?
The Register also writesâŠ.
Twenty percent of residents live below the poverty level, compared with 12 percent in Iowa. Yet Planned Parenthood specializes in serving low-income people. Clinics are frequently in high-need areas and the vast majority of patients earn 150 percent or less than the federal poverty level.
Planned Parenthood is challenging in federal court Jindalâs ban on Medicaid payments, and residents of Louisiana should hope the health provider prevails. With some of the worst sexual health outcomes in the country, the state needs more options in health care. In fact, the governor should be finding ways to expand funding to clinics. That would be an example of truly respecting lives â the lives of women and their children.
Can we knock it off with the fallacy that Planned Parenthood is about health care and that poor people will suddenly lack access to quality health care if Planned Parenthood were defunded? Itâs a myth. According to the National Association of Community Health Centers there are 25 federally qualified health care (FQHC) centers operating in 139 service sites serving 276,720 Louisiana residents per year. There are two Planned Parenthood centers in the state of Louisiana. Planned Parenthood has not released state specific information so we really donât know how many people they actually serve. These FQHC centers actually provide a wide range of primary health services whereas Planned Parenthood does not.
No one is entitled to taxpayer money, and taxpayer money could be better spent in Louisiana on clinics that actually provide health care services.
Jindal in response to the Des Moines Register says he is not backing down.
âŠthe liberal editorial board of the Des Moines Register attacked me because I have defunded Planned Parenthood in Louisiana.
Iowans will see this partisan attack for what it is â an attempt to protect an organization which gives campaign finance money to Democrats. It is the same reason that the Obama administration is suing me in Federal court.
The Register is trying to make Planned Parenthoodâs taxpayer funding a sacred cow, by helping them hide behind the fact that they provide some non-abortion services. The truth is that there are plenty of other healthcare clinics capable of providing these services which do not sell the body parts of dead babies.
Defending this evil organization is tantamount to condoning the behavior of the officials caught in the videos. The Registerâs editors should be ashamed of themselves.
Ordinary Americans understand something which the liberal media does not: nothing can justify the actions of Planned Parenthood.
I have cut off their funding in my state and as President I will cut off their funding in our country. I will always stand up to protect human life and I will not back down from this fight.
Jindal should keep up the fight. The state would probably be better off without Planned Parenthood, at the very least taxpayers shouldnât have to prop them up.