Senate Republicans: Women’s Health Programs Doing Just Fine, Thank You

It’s been seven months since Wendy Davis’ filibuster brought national attention to reproductive rights and women’s healthcare in Texas, and the next legislative session is almost 11 months away. Now is normally the time for the interim doldrums, when legislative committees talk shop about policy issues in poorly-attended meeting rooms. That’s not what happened at yesterday’s {Thursday's} Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing, where an effort from pro-choice and Democratic groups to mobilize the orange-shirted mob from last summer produced a sizable turnout. Committee chair state Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) debuted a new defense against Democratic criticisms: Women’s health care in Texas, Nelson argued, is better than it has ever been. That didn’t sit well with the orange crowd, who would note that the new abortion restrictions Nelson and her GOP colleagues passed last summer were not on the day’s agenda.

Nelson told the committee’s audience, which spilled into two overflow rooms, that she’d asked for women’s health to be added to her committee’s interim charge—a list of items they’re supposed to research for next year’s legislative session—because she cares about the issue.“Texas women should have access to family planning,” she said, touting money she helped win for programs last session. In the past, though, Nelson has repeatedly voted for the sweeping cuts to family planning that necessitated the new money in the first place. It was a rhetorical tack that made her look a bit like a kid who’s glued-up a shattered cookie jar.

For those who’ve forgotten: In 2011, a budget crisis (and conservatives’ desire to strip funding from Planned Parenthood, which provides a wide array of non-abortion related health services) led the Texas Legislature to take a hacksaw to family planning. State funding dropped two-thirds, an apocalyptic cut for a government program. As a result, 76 women’s health care clinics closed, resulting in widespread disruption to the delivery of health services. In short, the cuts wrought chaos.

In 2013, the budget got a little better, and cooler heads prevailed. The Legislature injected more money into family planning programs, and set up a (messy) framework to disburse new state money. That’s the line Nelson projected today—women’s health care in Texas is “now funded at record levels” and “Texas has the capacity to serve more women than ever before.” The interim charge, Nelson read, called on the committee to “build on previous legislative achievements.”

More at http://www.texasobserver.org/hhs-womens-health-care-programs-doing-just-fine-thank-you/ .