title:  Missouri GOP Throws Away $8.3 Million To Block Planned Parenthood From Getting $400K
text: In a growing trend to keep backwards-thinking idiots voting on the issues that really matter, like a woman s right not just to choose but her right to accessible, affordable healthcare, the GOP is going to even more ridiculous lengths than ever to enshrine their antiquated beliefs into law. Between that and teaching your children to love God and worship him like the founders intended and making sure what happens in your personal life is regulated by overwhelmingly Christian beliefs, the zealots of the right have their hands full. To prove they can be bought with taxpayer money, Missouri Republicans are willing to spend $8.3 million so Planned Parenthood doesn t get $400K.It s so simple it s stupid, which is why it s the perfect play for the GOP. First, you decline all federal funding for healthcare costs associated with women s health care, which in this case is $8.3 million. You then take that money, less the cut intended for Planned Parenthood and anyone else who performs abortions and pay it out of the state s general fund. Go ahead and tack it on the deficit. You can call it the cost of saving lives you ll complain about having to feed. Considering abortions aren t funded with a single federal dollar unless a life is in imminent danger, this really shouldn t matter, but it does.Missouri is spending $8.3 million to block Planned Parenthood from receiving about $400k in federal funds https://t.co/e1drx0WFRH  Reid Wilson (@ConsultReid) April 25, 2016Planned Parenthood and other local women s health clinics that offer abortion also offer pelvic screening, cancer screening, STD screening and family planning services. Every dollar of the $400K cut is taken from those programs because federal dollars can t pay for abortions unless someone s life is at risk. So at great cost to the taxpayer, great cost to the community and without a second thought about how dumb a move this is, Republicans are applauding a victory over that evil Planned Parenthood.In the end, they ve shot themselves in the foot. Healthy, informed women starting at a young age have a huge effect on the teen pregnancy rate, which in turn has a huge effect on the public assistance rolls. Trying to destroy Planned Parenthood over some bogus videos, knowing that the funding you re blocking doesn t cover what you re opposed to and allowing your lie to cost the people $8 million to perpetrate are all signs of desperate people preying on the emotions of pro-lifers. We know them as Republicans.Senator Kurt Schaefer (R), who heads the state s appropriations committee, said that Planned Parenthood is free to do whatever it wants, but that the taxpayer wasn t going to pay for it anymore. That statement is mostly true if you consider that the taxpayer wasn t paying for it to begin with. The taxpayer will still be paying the health care costs for those women who need it, but it will be coming from state revenue and not federal dollars already allocated that your legislature TURNED DOWN. It s so sad when an idea backfires so bad that there s nothing to do but hold an entire party to blame.Featured image from LifeNews.com