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Missouri Governor Pulls Funding from Planned Parenthood for Early Detection

Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (R) announced Monday that he will end funding to Planned Parenthood offices for a program that provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings to women. The money that went to the “Show Me Healthy Women” program — a play on the “Show Me” state’s motto — will now go to other organizations because “patients should not have to go to an abortion clinic to access lifesaving tests,” Blunt asserted. The Planned Parenthood clinics will not receive the remainder of their allocated funding for this year, halting the program that has serviced over 1,500 women in the past five years.

Kellie Rohrbaugh, a spokesperon for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Missouri, said that the group was shocked when it was notified on Monday of the funding cuts. “Gov. Blunt’s sudden decision to cut a 15-year partnership to prevent cancer in southwest Missouri is a shocking, misguided act driven by political ideology rather than sound healthcare delivery,” Rohrbaugh said. Rohrbaugh also said that the Joplin and Springfield Clinics were the only two clinics in the area that participated in the prevention program; neither clinic provided abortion procedures.

Meanwhile, both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved bills to reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. funny images funny photos

Sources:

AP 3/19/07; Joplin Globe 3/20/07; Women�s Policy Inc 3/20/07

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