The Real Fight Over Planned Parenthood Is Not in Congress
It has been the month of Planned Parenthood in Congress. Fury against and ardent defense of the organization rose following the release of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the procurement of fetal organs for research. That sparked intense House and Senate standoffs over the organization’s funding, with the chambers seeming to narrowly avert a potential government shutdown over the issue (for now). Hearings and investigations continue.
With so much attention focused on the fight on Capitol Hill, Americans may be missing a crucial point — a number of the changes Republican lawmakers are working hard to pass at the federal level have already been enacted by governors and state legislatures outside of Washington.
“What’s often been the case on the federal level is that we have divided governments,” said Drew Halfmann, an associate professor at the University of California, Davis, who studies the politics of health care. “That means there is a lot more gridlock at the federal level. That’s true for some states, but in many states you have uniform control of the government, and that really speeds things up and makes a lot more possible.”
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