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Obama drops funding from bill, alarming family planning groups

BMJ 2009; 338 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b422 (Published 02 February 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b422
  1. Janice Hopkins Tanne
  1. 1New York

    The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and other organisations have registered their disappointment as Barack Obama and fellow Democrats removed funding for family planning services from a proposed $819bn (£560bn; €640bn) legislative package to stimulate the US economy.

    President Obama asked that the family planning provision be dropped after pressure from the Republicans (Time, 29 Jan, www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1874683,00.html, “Behind the family-planning flap”). John Boehner, an Ohio Republican who is minority leader in the House of Representatives, complained that spending money on family planning services would not stimulate the economy and would “fund the abortion industry.”

    The legislation was passed in the House of Representatives without a single Republican voting in favour. A …

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