Montana and New Jersey have eliminated altogether their state family planning programs. New Hampshire cut its funding by 57 percent and five other states made more modest program trims.
But the biggest impact, by far, has been in Texas.
State lawmakers last fall cut family-planning funds by two-thirds, or nearly $74 million over two years. Within months, half the state-supported family planning clinics in Texas had closed.
The state network, which once provided 220,000 women a year free and low-cost birth control, cervical cancer tests and diabetes screenings, will now serve just 40,000 to 60,000, officials said.
Another 130,000 low-income Texas women who get free exams and contraceptives through Medicaid could lose those benefits by month's end, due to a dispute between the state and federal governments over whether Planned Parenthood should be allowed to serve women on that program.
So yes, hundreds of thousands of women are losing access to contraception and basic women's health services. Voters taught President Obama and the Democrats a "lesson" in 2010, ostensibly over government interference in health care. Is anyone surprised that the first thing Republicans do when given power of government is use it to take away health care from hundreds of thousands?
If this kind of nonsense pisses you off, you do have an option in November, you know. Consider the real "lesson" of the 2010 elections: Maybe there's something to the notion that the "Republicans are worse" as a valid, motivating factor to get your ass into the voting booth this fall.
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