Due to recent media coverage and the close proximity of our state's capital, many central Texans are aware of the recent controversial legislation that bans abortion affiliates from participating in a Medicaid program that offers reproductive health care to low-income women. In 2011, legislators cut family planning by two-thirds, slashing family funds from $111 million to less than $38 million. They also placed family planning providers like Planned Parenthood last in line for state dollars. In addition to cutting women's health care, a health reform bill was passed, which ensured that Women’s Health Program funds cannot be used to “perform or promote elective abortions, or to contract with entities that perform or promote elective abortions or affiliate with entities that perform or promote elective abortions.” This legislation has stirred up much debate as legislator Lon Bernam seeks to pass a bill that would nullify the “anti-abortion” language. Many supporters of the reversal attribute Texas’ high unplanned/unwanted pregnancy rate to inadequate women’s health care for low-income families; if these women we able to find contraceptives and have access to preventative medicine, that solution would be the best of both worlds.
Regardless of which side you take on this discussion, this article is a great example of lawmakers standing up for their citizen’s rights; I believe that our government’s sole responsibility is to serve our great country and state, not to dictate how we live our lives or to push ideological agendas.
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