Democrats Too 'Eager To Throw In The Towel' On Family Planning Provision In Stimulus, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 06 Feb 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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"Whenever the Republicans bring up anything in the stimulus bill that sounds a little weird, the Democrats have been pathetically eager to throw in the towel," columnist Gail Collins writes in a New York Times opinion piece. A provision that would have allowed states to expand eligibility for Medicaid family planning services was removed from the bill at the "insistence" of the Obama administration, despite Congressional Budget Office estimates that the provision would "eventually" save hundreds of millions of dollars by reducing unintended pregnancies, Collins writes. The provision "became a big rallying point for social conservatives," she continues, adding, "So goodbye family planning." Collins writes that it is "true that you could produce a much tidier stimulus plan with a few big whopping tax cuts" and "that some of the bill's priorities ... are more useful than stimulative." The "real objection" from Republicans is that Democrats "want to grow the size of government," Collins writes, adding, "So the opponents focus on things with names that sound frivolous or funny. This is an old game that works for almost any form of human communication" (Collins, New York Times, 2/5).

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