HHS: When It Reigns, It Poors

From Family Research Council:

Washington Update 

HHS: When It Reigns, It Poors

Last Friday, the Obama administration proved that it's more than capable of cutting funds--in retaliation. As payback for Texas severing ties with Planned Parenthood, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius promised to take out her anger on the state's low-income women. Starting this May, the government will phase out more than $30 million in health coverage for the most underprivileged people in the state--all because Texas wanted its citizens to have the benefit of unbiased care. The Obama administration decided to kill the funding for cancer, STD, and breast screenings because Gov. Rick Perry (R) dared to look beyond Planned Parenthood to providers who aren't under congressional investigation.

Now, Gov. Perry is left to scrounge through his budget to fill the 90% program void created by the administration's ideological blackmail. I was in a meeting with the Governor this weekend where he said he wouldn't allow the poor of Texas to be held hostage by HHS. Earlier, he vowed to fund the program: "We'll find the money," Gov. Perry said.

But under federal law, he shouldn't have to. Washington has always left it up to state leaders to decide who is and isn't eligible for Medicaid funding. In this case, there are more than 4,000 providers in Texas who are ready to step in and provide the abortion-neutral services women need. "Why would the Obama administration take away access to hearth care for low-income Texas women? Because this administration puts funding for abortion providers... ahead of funding for women's cancer screenings and other preventative health care... To me, this reflects a twisted set of values, not to mention a continued disregard for the basic concept of states' rights," Gov. Perry wrote in an op-ed. "If this debate were really about health care, the Obama administration would allow the Texas Women's Health Program to continue."

Unfortunately, this kind of ideological blackmail is becoming standard practice in this White House. We are witnessing this "conform or else" mentality across the President's health care policy--whether it's in the contraception mandate or meddling in state programs. Texas, meanwhile, says it will find a way to keep the Women's Health Program operating until either Washington resolves the issue or the courts do. At least three lawsuits are already working their way through the system, challenging the President's right to hold the funding ransom until leaders abide by his criteria.

Until they iron out those fundamental questions, Gov. Perry has an even stronger case for booting Planned Parenthood from its network now that it's been accused of 87,075 cases of Medicaid fraud in Texas. Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood clinic manager-turned-pro-life activist, is teaming up with Alliance Defense Fund to expose the group's multi-million dollar scam, in which it allegedly billed the federal government for thousands of services it never provided. Extortion seems to be a recurring theme for the organization, which has faced similar charges in California, New York, and Washington.

Still, President Obama is sticking by the abortion giant. This is a man who threatened to shut down the entire government if a penny of federal funding was cut from the group. Now he's willing to risk the health of 130,000 low-income women until Planned Parenthood gets its share. So when liberals say there is a "war on women," they're right. It's being waged by President Obama.

House Has Its Phil of IPAB

If it isn't wise to talk to strangers, why are we letting them make our health care decisions? One of the most frightening aspects of the 2,000-page ObamaCare law is the invention of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a group of 15 unelected bureaucrats who will have the power to limit which specialists you see, what treatments are available, and in some cases, whether you're eligible for care at all. Republicans have called it a "rationing board"--and even Democrats are starting to agree. Like FRC, they dislike the idea of IPAB sitting at the controls in Washington making health decisions for Americans.

And with the help of Rep. Phil Roe's (R-Tenn.) bill, they're doing something about it. Backed by a whopping 234 co-sponsors (20 of them Democrats), the House is moving forward with a measure to completely abolish IPAB. "The [Democrats'] turn is remarkable," the Wall Street Journal explains, "because the IPAB really does embody ObamaCare's innermost values and beliefs--that health decisions are too important to leave to the people receiving the care (patients), the people providing the care (doctors and hospitals), the people paying for the care (taxpayers), or even the people who got the government involved in the first place (politicians)."

FRC was one of the first groups to sound the alarm on the rationing committee, and with IPAB scheduled to get underway next year, the urgency to stop it has never been stronger. Contact your House member to support H.R. 452 and help us repeal ObamaCare--one bad policy at a time.

The Bus Never Tires!

The Values Bus took the "Your Money, Your Values, Your Vote" tour to Louisiana this weekend. On Saturday, the FRC Action team was registering voters at my home church, Greenwell Springs Baptist, where I had the privilege of introducing my good friend Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (U.S. Army-Ret.) to several hundred men for the annual Sportsman's Banquet. Gen. Boykin challenged the crowd to answer the call and be spiritual warriors that America needs.

From there, the Values Bus traveled overnight to Abbeville, Louisiana where Pastor Lane Payne and the folks at New Life Church hosted us for both morning and evening services. I was particularly encouraged by the evening service, where a number of area pastors from different denominations, came together. Pastor Payne and the other church leaders are determined to work together to impact their community. More and more, we are seeing pastorsjoin the Watchmen network and partner with other pastors to impact their community in profound ways.

** Sandra Fluke as the contraception heroine? Cathy Ruse disagrees in her New York Timesletter to the editor.

*** Is President Obama serious about keeping Iran from getting its hands on a nuclear weapon? Ken Blackwell and Bob Morrison have their doubts in a new joint column forHuffington Post, "Hillary's Toughest Sanctions on Iran Won't Work."

**** For the latest on the President's mandate, tune in to a live, half-hour webcast tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. (ET) with our friends from Students for Life. Click here for more information.