Reps. DeLauro, Lowey Fight for Title X Funds
Republican budget proposals eliminate funding for critical health care services
Washington, DC – Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, and Nita Lowey (NY-18), a longtime member of the subcommittee, spoke on the floor of the United States House of Representatives tonight in support of Title X during the debate of the Labor, Health and Human Services title of the Republican majority’s proposed Continuing Resolution.
“This Republican congress is trying to turn back the clock on women's health and women's basic rights. They are taking us back to a day when family planning was not a given opportunity for women. Under their proposals, more than 5 million Americans will lose access to critical health care services. As a cancer survivor myself, who is here today because my cancer was found in stage one, I can tell you losing access to screenings will cost lives. It comes down to this: the proposal to eliminate Title X is a bad policy, will hurt women, and it costs money,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “Instead of making it harder for women to get health care, we should be standing up for these vital services. On behalf of women and middle-class working families, I urge my colleagues to leave this extreme measure out of the picture. We should not be playing games with women's health and basic rights.”
“In the last decade unemployment has skyrocketed while the number of abortions has decreased. Yet, the majority is pursuing an extreme assault on women’s health and reproductive rights by eliminating the cost-effective family planning program instead of focusing on job creation,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “It is unconscionable that millions of Americans who most need access to the affordable, basic health care Title X provides – like cancer screenings and contraceptives -- have become victims of the extreme right’s divisive, partisan attempts to deny women a full range of legal health services.”