Rick Perry on Obama Administration's Denial of Health Care to More Than 100,000 Texas Women

Statement

Gov. Rick Perry today criticized the Obama Administration for its decision to shut down a Texas program that provides 100,000 low-income women health care. Gov. Perry issued the following statement on the Obama Administration's decision to end federal funding for these health services:

"It is the height of political posturing for the Obama Administration to put the interests of abortion providers and their affiliates, like Planned Parenthood, over the well-being of more than 100,000 low-income Texas women. I will not stand by and let this Administration abandon these Texas women to advance its political agenda; Texas will fund these services with or without the federal government.

"Texans send a substantial amount of our tax dollars to Washington, D.C., and it is unconscionable that the Obama Administration has essentially told Texas it will send our tax dollars back to fund this program only if we violate state law and include its pro-abortion allies. I will continue to fight this egregious overreach and defend life, our state's laws and the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."

Gov. Perry's previous statement committing the state to funding these services.

Women's Health Program Facts:

* The program has been in effect since 2007, and provides preventative health care, including breast and cervical cancer screenings to more than 100,000 low-income, Texas women.
* Texas law prohibits tax dollars from funding abortion providers and their affiliates and has since the program's inception.
* Under federal law, states administer Medicaid and have the right to set the criteria for "qualified providers" in the program, not Washington. This is exactly what Texas has done, in accordance with Texas law. Texas law prohibits tax cheats, deadbeat parents or people suspected of serious abuse from participating as a provider in Medicaid, even though federal law does not.
* There are more than 2,500 qualified providers in the WHP.
* Planned Parenthood represents less than two percent of providers in the WHP.
* Planned Parenthood's cost per client is 43 percent higher than most other providers, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
* In FY 2010, nearly 80 percent of women served received WHP services from non Planned Parenthood providers.

Source