State Women’s Health Program in Jeopardy

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Texas Department of Health and Human Services has announced it will enforce a new state law that could shut down the Women’s Health Program.

The new rule stipulates that the state cannot provide funds to a clinic that is affiliated with an organization that provides abortions, even if that institution does not provide abortions itself. The law is intended to cut off government support for Planned Parenthood clinics.

But federal officials say the state is banned from picking and choosing which clinics are in the Women’s Health Program, which is designed to provide family planning advice and care to poor women.

The Legislature anticipated this conflict and the law says that if the state is required to include Planned Parenthood clinics, the state would shut down the program completely.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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