The latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. For the week ending 2/18/2011: A look at the debate over funding Planned Parenthood from around the country. Plus, how health care reform may have hurt the fight against breast cancer.
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty. Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.
Here’s this week’s news:
• The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that nearly 40,000 low-income women have received free multivitamins with folic acid in an effort to reduce birth defects thanks to a bill passed by the North Carolina General Assembly.
• The GOP leadership gained support last week for proposed spending cuts to “Title X” money to Planned Parenthood, which uses the funding to pay for contraception and cancer screenings, but not abortions, for low-income patients, according to the Chicago Tribune.
• An op-ed piece in the Sun-Sentinel argues that health care reform hurt the fight against breast cancer by leaving thousands of needy women without access to mammograms and treatment options in the interim.
• The Concord Monitor summarizes a very heated debate over a bill that would forbid New Hampshire from offering public funding to Planned Parenthood.
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The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity team