Tennessee Refuses Federal Money for HIV Testing Because Planned Parenthood Would Get Some of It - Yahoo News

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Tennessee wellness officials tried to footwear Planned Parenthood retired of a assistance programme for HIV investigating and attraction earlier deciding to garbage the national funds altogether, according to the Associated Press and the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

NBC News reported that the authorities could beryllium rejecting arsenic overmuch arsenic $10 million successful HIV funds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doles retired the wealth to states, which successful crook springiness it to section organizations that supply services. Tennessee claims it volition usage authorities funds starting June 1, but it’s unclear however the authorities plans to wage for the programme connected its own.

Abortion is already banned successful the state, truthful this appears to beryllium thing much than an effort to financially choke disconnected Planned Parenthood portion leaving radical astatine hazard of HIV and those surviving with the microorganism arsenic collateral damage.

Democratic authorities Sen. London Lamar of Memphis told the AP that refusing the wealth “endangers the lives of Tennesseans.” Advocates told NBC News the determination is devastating. “I can’t recognize wherefore the authorities would springiness backmost funds targeted toward wellness care...it’s outrageous,” said Diane Duke, president and main enforcement serviceman of Friends for Life, a Memphis radical that provides services to radical surviving with HIV.

The authorities wellness bureau besides removed Planned Parenthood’s sanction from a list connected its website of assemblage organizations that supply escaped condoms. (Planned Parenthood runs Free Condoms TN, which is inactive listed.)

When the AP asked the section of wellness wherefore it had tried to chopped Planned Parenthood retired of the programme successful November, a spokesperson alternatively provided a January 17 missive explaining that “prior administrations” had accepted the national money, but the authorities determined “it is successful the champion involvement of Tennesseans for the State to presume nonstop fiscal and managerial work for these services.”

Gov. Bill Lee (R) told reporters Friday: “The backing for this HIV prevention programme is precise important and it’s important that it is spent efficaciously and efficiently successful the ways that champion service Tennessee. We deliberation we tin bash that amended than the strings attached with the national dollars that came our mode and that’s wherefore we made that decision.” Uh-huh.

Ashley Coffield, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi was clear-eyed astir the motives. “This is yet different nationalist wellness situation manufactured by Gov. Lee,” she told the AP. “They are utilizing Planned Parenthood arsenic the introduction mode to instrumentality down the full intersexual and reproductive wellness attraction system. We’re often the astir nationalist target, but this affects truthful galore groups.”

Planned Parenthood has worked with the authorities to supply HIV investigating since 2008 nether Gov. Phil Bredesen (D). When Gov. Bill Haslam (R) was elected successful 2012, his medication tried to footwear the enactment from the programme and got sued and lost. The AP explains:

A territory tribunal aboriginal recovered that the section had targeted Planned Parenthood “based upon their First Amendment enactment for advocating abortion” and issued a imperishable injunction preventing the authorities from dissolving immoderate concern with the enactment due to the fact that of their termination attraction advocacy. That injunction is inactive successful place.

Why is this happening now? Possibly due to the fact that the state’s caller wellness commissioner started his occupation past week. Lee appointed to the relation Ralph Alvarado, a erstwhile Kentucky lawmaker who is anti-abortion. Alvarado started past Monday, 2 days earlier the alteration was announced.

This petty determination is reminiscent of erstwhile anti-abortion lawmakers successful Indiana attacked assorted backing sources for Planned Parenthood, starring to respective of its clinics to close. One shuttered session successful agrarian Scott County, Indiana, had been the county’s only HIV investigating center, and 2 years later, the region experienced a devastating HIV outbreak.

You’d deliberation a politician wouldn’t privation to repetition these mistakes, but he’s a Republican, truthful helium doesn’t attraction if radical get sick oregon die.