Posted on 04/09/2007 7:00:23 PM PDT by Coleus
Referring to the organization as an “abortion clinic,” Gov. Matt Blunt announced Monday that he was pulling taxpayer funding for a statewide women’s preventive health program from Planned Parenthood offices in Joplin and Springfield, and moving the funding to other area agencies. Blunt stopped the remainder of Planned Parenthood of Southwest Missouri’s annual $27,000 funding for the Show Me Healthy Women Program. The program was formed 15 years ago to provide free breast-cancer and cervical-cancer screenings, and Planned Parenthood of Southwest Missouri has been a provider since its inception.
Jessica Robinson, Blunt’s press secretary, said the funding has been transferred to Ozark Tri-County Health Care, with locations in Joplin, Anderson and Cassville, and to Jordan Valley Community Health Center in Springfield. Robinson said the change in providers and funding is being done to avoid any philosophical or moral objections women may have to visiting an office with an organizational name tied to abortion providers.
“It could prove a conflict of interest for some people because it shares a funding stream,” Robinson said. Kellie Rohrbaugh, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Missouri, said her office was blindsided when it received notification Monday that funding for the free screenings would end in 30 to 60 days. Rohrbaugh said the local Planned Parenthood operation is not and has never been an abortion provider. Two of the four Planned Parenthood organizations in Missouri perform abortions, but Rohrbaugh said the other two, including the Southwest Missouri group, do not. She said the Planned Parenthood divisions that do provide abortions were not receiving Show Me Healthy Women Program funding.
While acknowledging that the Southwest Missouri offices don’t provide abortions, Robinson said the organization is known for its abortion-rights stance and for advising women about where they can go to have abortions. The decision to stop Planned Parenthood’s funding was directly based on Blunt’s anti-abortion values, Robinson said. “Patients should not have to go to an abortion clinic to access life-saving tests,” Blunt said in a written statement. “Today (Monday) I put an end to taxpayer dollars going to Planned Parenthood in Springfield and Joplin through the Show Me Healthy Women Program. This ensures women may access important preventative care without contributing to abortion providers’ goal of facilitating the destruction of innocent life.”
Rohrbaugh called Blunt’s announcement “shocking” and “misguided,” and said Planned Parenthood provides nearly 6,000 women with annual exams each year. Blunt also said he is asking the General Assembly for $500,000 in additional state funds for the Show Me Healthy Women Program.
.
Wow...we’re going to hear more about this in the coming weeks, I’m sure.
That’s Rudy’s favorite “charity”. Good for Blunt to expose these rabid leftists.
“Planned Parenthood” = The ORIGINAL “Baby-Killers”.
It always struck this USMC VET (’69-’71) that THEY always referred to US as “BABY KILLERS”. I do not know of ANY MARINE (Soldier, Sailor, or Air Forces Puke, for that matter) that performed or sanctioned an ABORTION.
>>Blunt also said he is asking the General Assembly for $500,000 in additional state funds for the Show Me Healthy Women Program.<<
That may be the real story - the governor wants more money for cervical and breast cancer screenings and he knows he’s not gonna get an 1800% funding increase if its attached to the Planned Parenthood name.
Excellent news, now we need the governors of whichever other states fund PP to follow suit.
If this new place does a good job I’m all for it.
Can we get him to run for President???
The left is a victim of its own success. By making everything under the sun political and being as publicly obnoxious about it as they can, they’re learning that a lot of people don’t like them (go figger). The good guvner isn’t stupid; he probably got a lot of complaints from women that use the exam service that know what PP is all about. Moral of the story: being “in your face” has consequences.
Good. Planned Parenthood is Planned Parenthood is Planned Parenthood.
Or, as Gertrude Stein said, “A rose is a rose is a rose.”
Pray, pray, pray to shut down these houses of death.
Check out this story from Colorado where the Gov is headed in the opposite direction.
“Blunt is on to something and will gain a lot of conservative loyalty for this.”
Possibly but he lost my support when he cut disabled, productively employed, tax paying citizens off and put them out of work, off the tax roles and in several cases, into nursing homes when before, with some assistance, they were living on their own.
Either you know how Blunt stands on many issues...national, social, international...or you are just blowing in the wind. If Governor Blunt has taken this stand because of his objection to abortioniot organizations receiving tax-payer's money, I greatly applaud him.
That alone does not quality him to be president of the U.S.
I've read the same kind of comments about others...that they should run for the top office. Ann Coulter, to name one.
Ann has the freedom to speak her mind. She holds no state or federal office. She doesn't have the responsibilites of the President. That's a whole different arena.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.