That headline may seem unusual (since when does the Obama administration cut funding for anything other than military healthcare and successful school choice programs?), but once you see who this move is intended to protect, all shall be revealed:
The federal government on Thursday began making good on its promise to cut off all funding for the Texas Medicaid Women's Health Program amid an escalating fight over the state's ban on funding for clinics affiliated with abortion providers. In a letter to state officials, Cindy Mann, director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said her agency regretted the move. "We had hoped not to be at this point. But, unfortunately, as we've made clear to the state at all points in this process, we don't have a choice," Mann said on a conference call with reporters after sending the letter...
The standoff stems from a law passed by the Legislature last summer and took effect Wednesday. It bars state funding for clinics affiliated with abortion providers. The Obama administration had pledged to stop funding the Women's Health Program because federal law requires women to be able to choose any qualified clinic. Gov. Rick Perry counters that states have the right, under federal law, to determine qualified providers in the program. The program provides care to about 130,000 women between the ages of 18 and 44 earning less than $20,000 a year or less than $41,000 for a family of four — with federal funds paying 90 percent of its cost and Texas covering the rest. Mann said that last year it cost about $41 million, and about $34 million of that came from Washington...Planned Parenthood issued a statement criticizing the actions taken by Perry and the Texas Legislature.
So I guess indigent Texas women will simply have to go without because Obama's government prioritizes protecting a political ally and Democrat cash cow over the "women's health" they claim to hold dear. Wait, what's that? They won't? Hey, look who's standing up for women's healthcare:
Perry, who slammed the federal government constantly during his short-lived bid for the Republican presidential nomination, has directed state health officials to find the funding to keep the program going from other parts of the budget, but he has promised not to raise revenues to cover the costs.
Remind me: Who, exactly, is waging this alleged "war on women," again?
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