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Arizona Defunds Planned Parenthood

Cara Palmer |
May 5, 2012 | 11:31 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer

(We News, Creative Commons)
(We News, Creative Commons)
Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed a bill Friday to eliminate Planned Parenthood's access to funding through taxpayer money specifically for non-abortion services.

According to the Associated Press, Arizona "already bars use of public money for abotions except to save the life of the mother. But anti-abortion legislators and other supporters of the bill say the broader prohibition is needed to ensure no public money indirectly supports abortion services."

The Republican-led legislature has approved several measures targeting reproductive rights. Just last month, the governor approved a bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks. Regarding the bill signed Friday, Brewer stated:

"This is a common-sense law that tightens existing state regulations and closes loopholes in order to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions, whether directly or indirectly. By signing this measure into law, I stand with the majority of Americans who oppose the use of taxpayer funds for abortion."

Planned Parenthood responded to the bill by saying that it targets their organization specifically and will impact non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood, such as cancer screenings, birth control, and general exams for women's health. Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood of Arizona, said:

"While the impetus for the governor is political, and for the sponsors it's political, the impact is on the health care for poor Arizonans, and that is a terrible, terrible trade-off."

 

Reach Executive Producer Cara Palmer here or follow her on Twitter.



 

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