A Florida Democrat snapped during a House Appropriations subcommittee meeting Friday, declaring the Republican fiscal year 2027 spending bill "a war on women and girls" after it moved to eliminate family planning funding for millions of Americans.
"I'm mad as hell! I cannot believe what I see!" Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) shouted during the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee markup. "This is a war on women and girls!"
Frankel tore into the bill over a string of cuts she said would devastate low-income women and families. The Republican spending plan eliminates Title X family planning funding — a cut of $286 million — and zeroes out the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, slashing another $108 million. Title X serves nearly 3 million people annually, according to Frankel, mostly low-income or uninsured.
"This is our family planning money," Frankel said, "and not only that, preventative care, cancer screening, diabetes, keeping people healthy — mostly people who are very poor or uninsured."
She didn't stop there. Frankel accused Republicans of pushing women toward unwanted pregnancies while simultaneously gutting the programs that would support them.
"I know you're against abortion. That's one thing. But forced pregnancy, that's another thing."
The bill also cuts the Office on Women's Health within HHS by $14 million, according to Democratic appropriators, and replaces teen pregnancy prevention programs with abstinence-only education, which received a $5 million funding increase.
"Zeroing out teen pregnancy prevention — okay, let's see," Frankel said. "And lastly, not lastly — I go to another page — almost cutting in half the Office on Women's Health within HHS. This is a war! It's a war on women!"
Frankel closed with a direct appeal to colleagues across the aisle.
"If you are a woman or you love a woman — you have a daughter, you have a sister, a mother, a cousin, an aunt — let's keep them healthy."
According to Democratic appropriators, the bill cuts total spending by $19.1 billion — 9 percent — below fiscal year 2026 levels.
