Truth Tour Takes Providence
More than 150 Planned Parenthood supporters crowded a lot in Providence to greet the Planned Parenthood Truth Tour. The big pink bus - covered in statistics about the vital health services Planned Parenthood provides - carried staff and supporters from around the country on a seven-city, six-state, four-day journey to combat the lies being spread by the extremist groups behind the dangerous campaign to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving their funding.
Judy Tabar, PPSNE President & CEO, delivered a rousing speech, excerpted below, about the threat and Planned Parenthood's determination to stand up for women and families.
Thank you for your support of women’s health and for standing with Planned Parenthood against a dangerous and misleading campaign by those who want to shut down our health centers.
These extreme activists are working over time to stop any federal funds from providing lifesaving care to the women of our communities who rely on Planned Parenthood here in Rhode Island. Without this federal support, we could not care for many of the women who choose to come to us for quality, affordable health care. These women often have nowhere else to turn, and we must care for them. Ninety percent of the care we provide is preventive – family planning, birth control, lifesaving screenings for cancer, breast exams, pap smears, and much more.
Today, we are here to say NO.
No to taking away family planning and birth control.
No to taking away lifesaving cancer screenings.
No to taking away testing for HIV and other STDs.
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What will the Pence Amendment to bar Planned Parenthood from providing health care services through any federal program accomplish? It will leave millions of women at risk for serious health problems, including undetected cancers, undiagnosed HIV infections and other STDs. And tragically, by cutting preventive care and family planning, we will see more unintended pregnancies – not fewer. That just doesn’t make sense.
Thank you all for being here today to stand up for women’s health and for the high quality, compassionate and cost effective care Planned Parenthood provides. Together, we are telling the truth and our voices are being heard.
