Your Opinion: Don't play politics with women's health

Dear Editor:

Earlier this year, Missouri lawmakers decided to play politics with women's health when they pushed through legislation (HB 2011) that ended the federally supported Women's Health Services Program, which provides family planning services for thousands of women throughout the state. Instead, they replaced this program with a separate, state-funded program - wasting $8 million in federal funding in order to prove a political point.

Ideologically driven attacks like this seriously compromise the health of uninsured, under-served women throughout the state, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet. Services through the program include contraception, STD testing, and potentially life-saving cancer screenings - for some women in Missouri, this is the only form of health care they will receive all year.

If this legislative fail sounds familiar, that's because Texas similarly eliminated its family planning program, only to have rates of birth control usage fall while unintended births rose. Let's learn from Texas' mistakes and ensure that the women in our state receive better care.

I applaud Missouri Department of Social Services for taking steps to renew this program amid political uncertainty, and I urge the Department to continue to support proactive family planning programs such as the Women's Health Services Program.

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