Texas is the Blueprint for a Life Without Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood has been under attack in Texas for years. This has resulted in a lack of access to affordable healthcare, lack of access to birth control, and worsening maternal health outcomes. Shellie Hayes-McMahon, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Texas, which is the 501(c)(3) arm of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, sits down to talk with us about the perfect storm of attacks to reproductive health and rights in Texas, which provides a perfect blueprint for other states who wish to follow suit.
The current push at the national level centers on defunding Planned Parenthood via Medicaid. Patients who lose their Planned Parenthood provider in Texas cannot just find a new provider. In fact, the state is currently seeing a decrease in providers generally, as well as medical students. Cancer screenings, birth control provision, critical counseling, and more, are services that are becoming increasingly more expensive for Planned Parenthood to provide, while crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are receiving millions of state dollars. In Texas, public school-provided sex education is abstinence-only, while misinformation around birth control is currently skyrocketing. The nationwide attacks on mifepristone, one of the safe and effective drugs used in a medication abortion, began in Texas.
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rePROs Fight Back 50-State Report Card
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Transcript
Jennie: Welcome to rePROs Fight Back, a podcast on all things related to sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. [music intro]
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