Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Signs Bill that Defunds Planned Parenthood; WTF Arizona?!

I've got more bad news out of Arizona.  But first, some background -- just in case you haven't been following the reproductive assault that is currently going on in Arizona.

In mid-March, I wrote that Arizona was really close to defunding Planned Parenthood:

The Arizona Senate Committee on Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform approved HB 2800 which strips state funding from any group (like Planned Parenthood) that performs abortion even though existing state law and the fucking Hyde Amendment already prohibit the use of state/federal funds for abortion.

In mid-April, I wrote that Arizona was really really close to defunding Planned Parenthood.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Arizona's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood:

The Arizona Senate Committee on Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform approved HB 2800 which strips state funding from any group (like Planned Parenthood) that performs abortion even though existing state law and the fucking Hyde Amendment already prohibit the use of state/federal funds for abortion.

Well, on April 12, the Arizona Senate gave preliminary approval to the bill. The Senate is expected to pass it, and Jan Brewer is expected to sign it. As a result, Arizona will go the way of both New Hampshire and Texas, and will be dropped from the Medicaid program.

For a manufactured fake war, the war on women sure does feel very real, don't you think?

Now it's May, and Arizona has succeeded in defunding Planned Parenthood (it won't take effect until August, and lawsuits have already been filed.)

SIGH.

Earlier this month, Governor Brewer signed the pithily named “Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act,” which bans funding for family planning and health services delivered by organizations offering abortion -- organizations like Planned Parenthood, even though existing state law and the fucking Hyde Amendment prohibit the use of state/federal funds for abortion.***

This bill seeks to prevent Planned Parenthood from getting money even indirectly.  Of course, those primarily impacted by this legislation are low-income women:

Planned Parenthood of Arizona says preventive health care for thousands of women could be in jeopardy. This comes after Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill into law blocking funding to Arizona's largest abortion provider.

Planned Parenthood has 14 locations around the state serving some 40,000 patients every year. They say one in five women come to them for abortion services and as a result lawmakers opposed to abortion are also opposed to funding Planned Parenthood.

“It's another assault on Planned Parenthood being there for women but it's not going to be a successful one,” said Bryan Howard, CEO of Planned Parenthood.

House Bill 2800 will ban the state from using public money to contract with an organization that includes abortions in its services.

“What we are seeing is an assault on women making their own decisions about health care whether it's abortion or health care," Howard added.

He says House Bill 2800 primarily affects 4,000 women living below the federal poverty level and on AHCCCS.

“It makes it harder for women to access birth control, hard for women to access cancer screening and abortion care,” said Howard.

The Arizona GOP, led by Jan Brewer are steamrolling over women's rights in Arizona: defunding Planned Parenthood; the omnibus abortion ban bill (HB 2036, which includes the twenty week ban); and the contraception opt-out bill (HB 2625, which I wrote about yesterday) were passed and signed all within the last month. And let's not forget that last year, Brewer signed a bill that bans abortion based on sex and race (HB 2443, which is a thing that happens in the US -- at least according to the wingnuts.)  Oh, and the wrongful birth bill!  That passed too.  The wrongful birth bill (SB 1359) permits doctors to lie to women and withhold prenatal information from them if the doctor thinks that information might lead to the patient choosing to get an abortion, and the bill disallows women to sue that doctor for malpractice.

I wrote about the wrongful birth bill when it passed the House and when it passed the Senate.  That Governor Brewer signed it on April 17 slipped right past me.  I was unaware until just now that Governor Brewer signed it --seriously.  I just looked it up and was surprised. Apparently, Brewer signed it in the aftermath of the Rosen/Romney kerfuffle, to very little media coverage.  Google it. There are few articles addressing it. It's depressing.

Also, there's not enough time in the day to keep up with all of this.  That, too, is depressing.

Oy.

***I'm running out of words, y'all. I honestly feel like I'm running out of words to describe this assault on women's rights.

***Here's a link to the TeamU Arizona wiki page.

***Here's a link to the #TeamU Wiki page for H.B. 2625.

RELATED POSTS:

• Arizona Close to Defunding Planned Parenthood
• Arizona Senate Close to Passing a Bill that Would Defund Planned Parenthood