A Planned Parenthood affiliate in Texas is making a fuss again after the state announced more cuts to its funding in 2016.
The Texas Tribune reports that Texas leaders chose not to renew approximately $600,000 in funding for an HIV prevention program run by Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast.
“There will be no further renewals of this contract,” a Texas Department of State Health Services official wrote in the notice to the abortion business Monday. A department spokesman added that they are “working with local health departments in the area to continue to provide these services.”
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Planned Parenthood used the money for HIV testing and counseling, condom distribution and referral consultations, according to the report. The abortion group has received Centers for Disease Control grant money for the program since 1988, the report states.
The Texas affiliate’s CEO Melaney Linton called the news about the latest cuts “devastating.”
More than 80,000 Texans have HIV, and 4,000 were newly diagnosed in 2014, according to the state health department.
While pro-lifers are certainly not opposed to HIV prevention or treatment, some argue that Planned Parenthood is hurting the situation rather than helping to prevent HIV. Federalist writer Kimberly Ells recently pointed out that Planned Parenthood is perfectly fine with HIV-positive people who want to hide their status from their sexual partners.
It’s all laid out in International Planned Parenthood Federation’s booklet for HIV-positive youth, “Healthy, Happy and Hot.” It says, “Young people living with HIV have the right to decide if, when, and how to disclose their HIV status.” It continues: “Sharing your HIV status is called disclosure. Your decision about whether to disclose may change with different people and situations. You have the right to decide if, when, and how to disclose your HIV status.”
“Some countries have laws that say people living with HIV must tell their sexual partner(s) about their status before having sex, even if they use condoms or only engage in sexual activity with a low risk of giving HIV to someone else. These laws violate the rights of people living with HIV by forcing them to disclose or face the possibility of criminal charges.”
The pamphlet then gives tips to protect oneself from criminalization, and does say that the best way to protect yourself (which is apparently more important than protecting your partner) is to tell your partner that you are infected before you have sex. This section ends with the statement, “Get involved in advocacy to change laws that violate your rights.”
Back in 2011, a Planned Parenthood staffer also was caught recommending that a man with an STD donate blood. The undercover group Live Action recorded the Roanoke, Virginia employee telling the man: “Well, uh *laughs*, see I tell a lot of people, I say if you know, if you’re not quite sure, you’re not having any symptoms, but for peace of mind, go donate blood – cause if you go donate blood, they have to test for everything anyway. And you know, a lot of plasma places, they’ll test you for free.”
In the past year, Texas legislators moved to cut off funding for the abortion giant from multiple revenue streams. In October, pro-life Gov. Greg Abbott eliminated state taxpayer funding for the Texas affiliate through Medicaid.
After Planned Parenthood was caught in a series of 11 videos selling aborted babies and their body parts, Abbott made decision to eliminate state taxpayer funding for the abortion business. One of the expose’ videos caught a Houston, Texas Planned Parenthood arranging for the sales of aborted babies and dissecting babies it had aborted and planned to ship off for sale to a biotech firm.
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In late October, the Obama administration came to the abortion group’s defense and threatened to sue Texas for cutting off funding.
