Rick Perry’s largest accomplishment since giving up his bid for the GOP presidential nomination has been under-covered in the conservative media but is a story worth telling.  It is also worth mentioning for a few other reasons.  First, pro-abort Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson has joined the left in hitting the Governor for not supporting the pro-abort movement with tax payer money.  Second, in researching sources for this article, there is very little on the right concerning Texas’s brave move to protect women and unborn babies from Planned Parenthood.

A little background.

Texas forbids taxpayer money from going to fund abortions.  At the same time, the federal government pays the bills for Planned Parenthood (PP).  This enables PP to perform some women’s health services and perform abortions on the unborn by freeing up their budget.  Earlier this year, the Texas legislature took the next logical step for a pro-life legislature and cut off taxpayer funding to health care facilities that performed abortions itself or through affiliates.

Instead, Texas took millions of dollars and shifted care to facilities that do not provide abortions.  The change presents its own difficulties as many women have been forced to new facilities.  But Texas is assisting women in finding new facilities and care providers during the policy change.  Additionally, the Texas legislature and Governor Rick Perry are continuing to look for ways to expand healthcare services to women through non-abortion providers.

Although Planned Parenthood and its surrogates are outraged, the message makes perfectly logical and consistent sense.  For Americans who take the scientifically-backed view that life begins at conception, a group like Planned Parenthood is radical and was founded, partially to lower minority populations.  Groups like this shouldn’t be propped up with taxpayer money.  Furthermore, abortion has a negative impact on women including post abortion syndrome as well as the an increased risk of breast cancer, as cited by Komen for the Cure.

For too long, PP has had the government keep the lights on and pay the bills enabling it to perform abortions on minority and low income women.  They have consistently and successfully painted themselves as vital to women’s health.  But over the last few years, state legislatures across the nation have rightly been asking whether there isn’t a better alternative available for America’s women.

In the end, the Texas legislature approved and Governor Perry signed a law that allows Texas to determine the rules of eligibility for abortion providers and their affiliates under Medicaid.  Texas, correctly argues that it is the State’s right to determine eligibility for the grant.  But Mr. Obama and Ms. Sebelius do not agree.

The Obama Administration has determined to punish Texas for touching the Holy Grail of the left by cutting all women’s healthcare funding to Texas.  Thus, what should have been a smooth transition, allowing healthcare facilities whose goal is saving life, not destroying it, has been politicized even further by the White House.  Now, Texas no longer has the funds to effectively administer proper healthcare to its women — not because of Planned Parenthood, but because the White House is withholding funding from women to score political points.  All of the women’s health funding.

Yet, republicans are being accused of being radical.

The states act as experiments to the nation.  PPs nationwide do little outside of reproductive “services.”  PP refers out for mammograms and performs no surgical procedures outside of abortions.  Many women have great stories about how PP helped them when they were young, poor and struggling, these vital services should continued to be paid for by the government.  And Planned Parenthood may continue to operate, but the government can uplife other care groups.  There is no reason these tasks can’t be performed by medical care groups that value life.

The White House should put women before the powers that be at Planned Parenthood and provide Texas its full funding to take care of the women that need it.  Although Obama usually gets good press for governing center-left, the abortion issue has been one where he has staked out a flag far to the left of the country.

Obama’s decision to cut the legs out from underneath women’s care services paints his administration as the real villian of this story.  In contrast, Texas is working on a plan to completely fund women’s health services through the state by the end of the year.  Texas should be commended for such a bold act of leadership in the face of federal pressure.  Well done.

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