| Dear Katy, Planned Parenthood saved my life. While I was an organizer at Planned Parenthood Northern California, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. My boss, team and the health center medical staff made sure I had the care and advice I needed to survive. I'm here today because of them. When news broke that the Trump-Pence regime forced Planned Parenthood to withdraw from Title X, my heart broke.1 I knew that I had to do everything in my power to fight back. Trump and Pence may have hijacked the Department of Health and Human Services, but Congress still has the power of the purse. In June, Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a 2020 HHS budget that protects Title X, the country's program for affordable reproductive health care, and repeals the domestic and global gag rules that misogynistic extremists are using to defund reproductive health care providers and lie to patients about their health care options.2 We have to demand that the Senate do the same. The more of us who add our names, the greater our power to make sure senators support these provisions. Tell the Senate: Protect Title X and repeal the domestic and global gag rules. Click here to sign the petition. Planned Parenthood withdrawing from Title X is a big deal. It means that millions of people who need affordable reproductive health care won't be able to access it from one of the country's most trusted providers. It also means that the right wing just moved one step closer to its dream of defunding Planned Parenthood by forcing it to walk away from millions of dollars of Title X funding. The Trump-Pence domestic gag rule bars all providers who receive Title X funding from referring people for abortion. In July, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block this dangerous policy.3 That forced Planned Parenthood to make a moral choice – cave to extremists and stop providing abortion care or stand up for its values and withdraw from Title X. On Monday, Planned Parenthood withdrew from Title X – exactly what Trump and Pence intended. Trump's global gag rule is even more sweeping. It restricts any entity that receives U.S. foreign aid from providing or even talking about abortion with its patients, imposing the cruel Trump-Pence agenda on thousands of women around the world. The Title X domestic gag rule and the global gag rule are clear attempts by misogynists in the White House and Congress to control women's freedom and futures across the country and abroad. With Democrats in control of the House of Representatives, we have a 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies funding bill (H.R. 2740) that gives us an opportunity to build momentum and push back. We must force senators to make a public choice: Will they stand up to Trump and Pence or help them hurl the country back to a time when basic health care was a privilege reserved for the wealthy and abortions were lethal? We know where the majority of Republicans stand, but some, like Susan Collins, are in tight races in 2020 or 2022 and should feel massive pressure to do right by their constituents. And every Democrat in both houses of Congress should get the message that funding HHS' misogyny should be off the table when it's time for budget negotiations this fall. Join me now in ramping up the pressure. Tell the Senate: Protect Title X and repeal the domestic and global gag rules. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/pp-titlex-gagrule?t=9&akid=33791%2E12967895%2EWXNh86 Thanks for fighting back, Nicole Regalado, Campaign Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Pam Belluck, "Planned Parenthood Refuses Federal Funds Over Abortion Restrictions," The New York Times, Aug. 19, 2019.
- Ally Boguhn, "Five Ways House Democrats Are Using the Budget to Fight Anti-Choice Policy," Rewire, June 18, 2019.
- Jessie Hellmann, "Appeals court denies demands to halt Trump abortion referral 'gag rule,'" The Hill, July 11, 2019.
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