First and foremost let me
start off by saying that I am a true admirer of the miracle of life
phenomenon. I believe that women have
been given an amazing gift by being able to bring life into this world. But that’s just it, that is what I believe, and
I wouldn’t dream of pushing my beliefs on other women or take away their right
to choose. So when I see articles such
as Planned Parenthood is suing Texas over the Medicaid Removal I am baffled as
to why legislators have taken it upon themselves not only to tell women what
they can and cannot do but where they can and cannot get their pap smear. Just WOW!
This violates Medicaid’s freedom of choice
provision. And I quote…
“States are not, however, permitted to exclude providers from the program solely on the basis of the range of medical services they provide. Under federal law Medicaid beneficiaries may obtain medical services "from any institution, agency, community pharmacy, or person, qualified to perform the service or services required . . . who undertakes to provide him such services." (Section 1902(a)(23) of Title XIX of the Social Security Act (the Act)) This provision is often referred to as the "any willing provider" or "free choice of provider" provision.”
The state of Texas claims that this move is due to the
videos that were released earlier this year by an anti-abortion group alleging
that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue illegally. According to Politifact researchers have
used fetal tissue since the 1930’s. And
while I don’t condone the use of fetal tissue, I don’t think it is fair to skew
facts to fit a political agenda. These
videos seem to conveniently come at a time that Texas legislature is on its
path to completely get rid of abortion clinics.
The thing is that Medicaid does not even fund abortions unless they are
medically warranted so this is just a stretch for Texas to use for their cause.
But just who is Texas really
after with all these legislative moves?
I cant help but wonder if this is all part of a bigger scheme at a time
when birth certificates are being denied to children born to immigrants. Below are demographics from PlannedParenthood South Texas’ 2013 annual report.
You can draw your own conclusions as to who would be the
most affected by removing Planned Parenthood as a provider for Medicaid
patients. There are those that argue
that this move does not reduce access to care and that other medical providers
would be able to pick up the patient load Planned Parenthood would lose. But these arguments only detract from what’s really
going on.
This is just the latest of
the legislative actions taken towards the women of Texas. Because that is who truly suffers in all of
these choices… Texas women!
1 comment:
This blog is excellently written. I think it's effective that the author chose to make this article about the issues and facts, rather than about opinions. It was skillful to include their own beliefs while reassuring that they are not biased against the beliefs of others in a way that would affect their view of this issue. The use of logic is very effective, making the opposing side (those making medicaid incompatible with Planned Parenthood) seem irrational. Good use of a graph, I think that when hinting to the conclusion that this would greatly affect Hispanic women, it would be even more effective to also include the demographics of ethnicity in regards to Medicaid users. Once again, this article is very well executed, Great Job.
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