Planned Parenthood seems to be the bellwether of how close elections are. In tight races, like 2012 is anticipated to be, the organization will once again come under fire. This current assault is particularly offensive. Last week, a Florida congressman called for a federal audit into whether Planned Parenthood has illegally used funds to perform abortions over the last decade. Last Spring House Republicans argued that with all of our fiscal problems, the government could no longer afford Planned Parenthood and voted to de-fund it. But the Republicans need to wake up to the fact that fewer and fewer female voters are identifying themselves as Republican in the last few years and this could be one reason why. Women’s reproductive health programs are under attack. And the crass politicization of it is hard to miss. This is like the Bad Boehner coming out. The good Boehner is the one that brought Obama further right than he or any other Democrat would have liked in taming the Debt Ceiling. The bad Boehner is the one that agrees to a bill that basically duplicates what the Department of Health and Human Resources is already doing – auditing Planned Parenthood annually to maker sure the money is being spent as designated. For many women in rural areas or for many minority women, especially inner city teens, Planned Parenthood is their only source of sex education and sexual health care. Even Republican women are compassionate on this point, Speaker Boehner.
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