Politics Donald Trump, Abortion Foe, Eyes ‘Punishment’ for Women, Then Recants

[Webdevman 93]

They may not say it but some of them have absolutely no problem with abortions even under the circumstances I mentioned. I do.

The reason I mentioned it is because some people, like Obama, want to repeal the Hyde Amendment(the ACLU is of course calling to repeal it too). Even with the amendment, taxpayers fund about 24% of abortions. There are also still 17 states that fund abortions on the same or similar terms as other pregnancy related and general health services. 4 of them voluntarily, but in 13 of them(VT included) courts interpreting their states constitutions declared broad and independent protection for reproductive choice and have ordered nondiscriminatory public funding of abortion.

Isn't the Hyde amendment renewed yearly? When has Obama tried to repeal it? I do not now much about it though..

I am not sure about how I feel but if a woman has medicaid why shouldn't she be able to get an abortion if she really needs one? Should she be forced to have the baby and then you the tax payer be forced to raise it which would be a million times as costly? What future would a child have in that situation?

Like I said though, last resort only and only up to a certain time during the pregnancy. It is definitely not a simple issue and if the Donald becomes prez I am sure he will do exactly zero about it. He is all talk.

[OriZ 3,157]

Actually, recently Clinton said this too:

Any right that requires you to take extraordinary measures to access it is no right at all. Not when patients and providers have to endure harassment and intimidation just to walk into a health center. … Not when providers are required by state law to recite misleading information to women to shame and scare them. And not as long as we have laws on the book like the Hyde Amendment making it harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights.

Then we have good ole' socialist Bernie:

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/01/23/3742221/sanders-hyde-repeal/

I don't have a problem with helping low-income women get an abortion as long as it is needed. I do have a problem with doing it if it is simply wanted(like in the circumstances mentioned before). However, it should still be legal as long as it's before the 20th week, AND as I said, in any case, we'll never be able to tell the difference between someone who actually tried to not get pregnant but still did, and someone who just didn't care or didn't think things through, so I acknowledge that in any case in practicality, we will not be able to draw that line.

Edited April 3, 2016 by OriZ

[Rob L 3,811]

People who whine about this being nothing more than a women's health issue only do so because they see the fetus as nothing but a lump of useless flesh until it pops through the birth canal. Those who see the fetus as a small human, a legitimate person, don't see it that way and never can.

The issue is where you define a lump of flesh transforming into a human being. Until two sides agree on that they cannot agree on the morality of abortion.

The rape issue is a funny one, though; you might be against abortion unless it's rape. Implicit in this is that a baby born of rape is less than a human being born of consent. It's a fairly disgusting hypocrisy, but an exceptionally common one. Much of this relies upon applying a fraction to a fetus as to how much human being it really is. Most people's views on abortion are highly inconsistent and not thought out. If a fetus is not a human in a meaningful way, abortion for any reason should be no more amoral than cutting off a fingernail. If it is a human, it is a human. How it became one is immaterial.

yup " rape is a funny one"

[Rob L 3,811]

Ok. That is fine, however I find it hard to believe that pro-lifer groups and or anti-abortionists have the same viewpoint. IMO you are in the pro-choice camp.

you are setting up a false dichotomy

[Rob L 3,811]

Even with the amendment, taxpayers fund about 24% of abortions. There are also still 17 states that fund abortions on the same or similar terms as other pregnancy related and general health services. 4 of them voluntarily, but in 13 of them(VT included) courts interpreting their states constitutions declared broad and independent protection for reproductive choice and have ordered nondiscriminatory public funding of abortion.

and here are the facts:

Q: How much of Planned Parenthood’s services are dedicated to abortions? Does the federal government fund those procedures?

A: Abortions represent 3 percent of total services provided by Planned Parenthood, and roughly 10 percent of its clients received an abortion. The group does receive federal funding, but the money cannot be used for abortions by law.

FULL ANSWER

We received several questions on this topic during the recent budget debate in Congress, after Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl claimed this month on the Senate floor that "well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does" is provide abortion services. That figure was wildly incorrect. Planned Parenthood says only 3 percent of its total services in 2009 were abortions. The other 97 percent of services were for contraception, treatment and tests for sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screenings, and other women’s health services.

Here’s a chart from a March 2011 fact sheet, which reported that the group performed about 11.4 million total services.

Kyl’s far-off claim was mocked by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and Kyl’s office later walked back the statement, telling CNN that "[h]is remark was not intended to be a factual statement but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives millions in taxpayer dollars, does subsidize abortions." That statement, too, prompted ribbing by Stewart and Colbert. But the comedic clips apparently did not make it to the inboxes of many of our readers, who sent us questions about whether or not Planned Parenthood does little more than provide abortions, and whether or not taxpayer money goes to pay for them.

Planned Parenthood’s chart shows that abortions made up 3 percent of its total services. Another way to measure the group’s abortion services, however, is to divide the total number of abortions by the number of clients. For example, Planned Parenthood said that it “provided nearly 11.4 million medical services for 3 million people” in 2009. Its 2011 fact sheet says it performed 332,278 abortion procedures in 2009. That would mean that roughly one out of every 10 clients received an abortion.

Taxpayer Funding

Planned Parenthood’s 2008-2009 annual report states that it received $363.2 million in "Government Grants and Contracts." (See page 29.) That’s about one-third of its total revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.

However, not all of that money is from the federal government. Planned Parenthood’s government funding comes from two sources: the Title X Family Planning Program and Medicaid. About $70 million is Title X funding, Planned Parenthood spokesman Tait Sye told us. The rest — about $293 million — is Medicaid funding, which includes both federal and state money.

But Planned Parenthood cannot use the money it receives from the federal government for abortions anyway. According to the Department of Health and Human Service’s website, "by law, Title X funds may not be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning." Medicaid funding is restricted by the Hyde Amendment to only abortion cases involving rape, incest or endangerment to the life of the mother. Some states use their own funds under Medicaid to go beyond that. Seventeen states and, until recently, the District of Columbia pay for "medically necessary" abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The federal budget deal now bans Washington, D.C., from using its funds to pay for abortions.

— Lori Robertson and Michael Morse

Sources

Planned Parenthood. Annual Report 2008-2009.

Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood Services. Fact Sheet. Mar 2011.

"CNN Newsroom." Transcript. CNN. 8 Apr 2011.

Guttmacher Institute. State Funding of Abortion Under Medicaid. Policy Brief. 1 Apr 2011.

DeBonis, Mike. "D.C. abortion funding: the facts." The Washington Post. 11 Apr 2011.

[OriZ 3,157]

Notice I didn't mention planned parenthood even once in my post.

[ExPatty 502]

yup " rape is a funny one"

+1 for disingenuous.

[ExPatty 502]

and here are the facts:

Q: How much of Planned Parenthood’s services are dedicated to abortions? Does the federal government fund those procedures?

A: Abortions represent 3 percent of total services provided by Planned Parenthood, and roughly 10 percent of its clients received an abortion. The group does receive federal funding, but the money cannot be used for abortions by law.

If we're using facts, here's another one: the 3% is misleading at best.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421981/3-percent-dodge-rich-lowry

By Planned Parenthood’s math, a woman who gets an abortion but also a pregnancy test, an STD test, and some contraceptives has received four services, and only 25 percent of them are abortion. This is a little like performing an abortion and giving a woman an aspirin, and saying only half of what you do is abortion.

Hey, you wanted facts, right.