Republicans in Missouri are so desperate for women not to have abortions that they are willing to cut uninsured women’s access to any kind of family planning services. The budget that lawmakers have passed and are sending to Republican Gov. Eric Greitens for signing prevents hospitals and clinics which participate in the uninsured women’s health services program from receiving state funds if the organization provides abortion services. But apparently, punishing these women isn’t enough. The Republican budget also includes cutting the program by 2.1 million dollars. How’s that for compassion? So much for the party of morality and values.
That means patients insured through the program, like Alecia Deal, 37, may need to find another doctor. Her coverage currently pays for checkups, birth control and cancer screenings at a Planned Parenthood clinic in south St. Louis, which does not provide abortions but can provide a referral. Though limited, it’s the only health coverage she has.
“I’m trying to wrap my mind around why the government has anything to say about it,” Deal said.
Why indeed? Other than the fact that they simply hate and want to punish women. Or force their religious views onto women’s bodies. And re-litigate a legal decision, Roe v. Wade, that has been US law for nearly 45 years. But what this really does is marginalize women who are poor and cannot afford access to contraception or family planning any other way.
About 70,000 Missourians receive care through the state’s uninsured women’s health services program. Enrollees must be between the ages of 18 and 55, and with a family income below 201 percent of the federal poverty level — about $41,000 a year for a family of three. [...]
The legislature's decision last year [to eliminate organizations from the program that provide abortions for reasons other than saving the mother’s life] forced the Missouri Department of Social Services to give up an annual $8.3 million in federal funds for the state’s program for family planning, because federal Medicaid rules prevent states from restricting provider choice. The requirement [also] eliminated several hospitals from the coverage network.
Way to go, Missouri. The “show me state” is showing women just how little it cares about their reproductive health, well-being and right to access safe contraception.