May 10, 2017
Page 7
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O PINION
Our Health Should Never Be Disregarded
Pain feels
worse with this
Congress and
White House
l eSlie W atSon
m alaChi
My nieces, who range
in age from 17 to 25, grew
up in a very different world
from the one I knew coming
of age in the 1970s
For their entire lives, abor-
tion has been legal. And Planned
Parenthood and other women’s
clinics have served as a steadfast
source of health care.
Although access to reproduc-
tive care is still too often con-
tingent on income or zip code,
until recently it felt like our funda-
mental rights were, by and large,
standing on solid ground.
It no longer feels that way —
and that makes me truly afraid for
by
my nieces.
Politicians putting women’s
health on the chopping block isn’t
new. But the pain feels so much
sharper with this Congress and
White House chipping
away at constitution-
al rights and slashing
funding for women’s
health. The burden will
fall heaviest on women
who can least afford
cuts, but who will be
forced to pay the heavi-
est price.
These attacks, which are part
of the larger war on women, have
already begun in the few short
months since Trump took office.
Not surprisingly, in April Pres-
ident Trump signed legislation to
undo a rule protecting the Title X
family planning program. I won-
der if he knew or cared that Title
X is a vital safety net program that
has supported access to affordable
health care — including cancer
screenings, well-woman exams,
and birth control — for millions
of low-income people.
Does he know or care that
about one in five Title X patients
are African American, nearly one
third are Latino, and around half
are white? That the vast majority
of people who use Title X make
do on incomes less than 150 per-
cent of the federal poverty line?
The sad reality is most of those
served by this program simply
can’t afford care on their own, and
this administration doesn’t care.
This newly signed repeal lets
states prevent Title X patients
from accessing critical health ser-
vices if their local health care pro-
vider also provides abortions, like
Planned Parenthood. This should
be seen for what it is: a shameful
move that puts partisan politics
above the health of low-income
women and their families — in-
cluding many who voted for this
administration.
Despite recent failed attempts
to repeal the Affordable Care Act,
extreme politicians remain com-
mitted unnecessarily to “defund-
ing” Planned Parenthood. Why
unnecessary? Because since 1976,
Congress has had a rule — the
Hyde Amendment — that pre-
vents federal dollars from paying
for abortions.
That means Planned Parent-
hood already can’t spend tax dol-
lars on abortions. So when poli-
ticians talk about “defunding” it,
what they’re really talking about
is preventing women who rely
on programs like Medicaid from
accessing other services — like
pre-natal care — through Planned
Parenthood.
If Congress were to successful-
ly shut down Planned Parenthood
health centers, a breathtaking 2.5
million people, both men and
women, would no longer have
access to cancer screenings, birth
control, and other critical services
each year — likely causing a na-
tional health care crisis.
Whether she lives in the city, a
suburb, or in a rural community,
a low-income woman would find
herself with a personal health care
crisis like no other in recent times.
For many, there are simply no oth-
er affordable options to turn to if
their local Planned Parenthood
center shuts down.
Our right to safe, affordable,
accessible health care is on the
chopping block. As the attacks
ramp up, women of all ages,
ethnicities, and racial identities
should be talking together, sharing
together, and demanding together
our right to be healthy.
Our health — and that of our
families and communities —
should never be disregarded for
the sake of political expediency.
For my nieces’ generation — and
for women across the country —
the price is just too high.
Leslie Watson Malachi is the
director of African American Re-
ligious Affairs at People For the
American Way. Distributed by
OtherWords.org.
Our Public Postal Service Delivers, Literally
There’s a good
reason for the
high grade
3 cents in change, and America’s
phenomenal network of post of-
fice workers and letter carriers,
who will deliver your missive into
any of the 43,000 zip
codes of this vast coun-
try.
by J im h ightoWer
Our public Postal Ser-
A half-dollar hardly
vice literally delivers,
counts as money these
and many of our post
days — it won’t even
offices serve as treasured
buy a cup of coffee.
community centers —
But pssssst… here’s
an amazing half-dollar bargain for two reasons that the U.S. mail
service consistently ranks highest
you: A first-class postage stamp.
For 50 cents, you get the stamp, of all federal agencies in public
Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Home Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61710
Ernest J. Hill, Jr. Agent
4946 N. Vancouver Avenue,
Portland, OR 97217
503 286 1103 Fax 503 286 1146
ernie.hill.h5mb@statefarm.com
24 Hour Good Neighbor Service R
State Farm R
Advertise with diversity in The Portland Observer
Call 503-288-0033 or email ads@portlandobserver.com
support.
So, naturally, it must be deci-
mated and ultimately eliminated.
That’s what passes for logic in
the back rooms of Congress and in
the boardrooms of predatory cor-
porations that want to take control
our mail for their profit.
They keep demonizing any-
thing public — especially any
public service that actually works
and is popular — because the cor-
porate powers and the congress
critters they buy in bulk ultimate-
ly intend to privatize all of the
people’s government. To advance
their plutocratic vision, they’re
out to tarnish the Postal Service as
a massive, money-sucking, dying,
bureaucratic behemoth.
But here are a few facts they
don’t want you to realize.
One, this public agency pro-
vides affordable mail service to
all, in poor communities as well
as rich. Two, it does this without a
dime of taxpayer money, financing
its entire operation with the sale of
stamps and services. And three, it
provides hundreds of thousands
of solid middle-class jobs spread
throughout every zip code.
To help keep this public jew-
el out of the hands of a few
greed-headed, price-gouging, low-
wage, tax-dodging corporations,
support “A Grand Alliance To Save
Our Public Post Offices.” Find it at
www.AGrandAlliance.org.
OtherWords columnist Jim
Hightower is a radio commen-
tator, writer, and public speaker.
He’s also the editor of the populist
newsletter, The Hightower Low-
down.