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Drastic & Dangerous Plans: Budget Cuts & Assaults on Women's Health

February 11, 2011
Pelosi Update

Budget Cuts
This week, House Republicans continue to work on the details of their plan to make drastic cuts to our federal budget – just when our economy can least afford it. Rather than working to create economic growth, they are focused on steep reductions in critical investments that will cost jobs, undercut American innovation and clean energy, and jeopardize our economic recovery.

Sorority_slideshowCongresswoman Pelosi meets with San Francisco Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

Many of the proposed cuts will hurt our most vulnerable populations already living on the brink. Women and children at risk of malnutrition will see their WIC benefits diminish. Community health centers stand to lose over $1 billion in funds to care for underserved populations. This plan also harms the jobs of the future, with $1 billion in cuts to the National Institutes of Health, our nation’s premier biomedical and health research entity, and another $1 billion from high speed rail.

As our economy recovers from the worst recession in our lifetime, state and local governments continue to struggle to keep cops on our streets, teachers in our classrooms, and roads and highways safe for travel. We must address the deficit, but we must do so in a responsible way. That means remembering our American values: educating our children, keeping our communities safe, and investing in job creation for the future.

Assault on Women’s Health
The American people want us to be working to create jobs. Unfortunately, the Republican majority is prioritizing a package of extreme legislation that represents the most comprehensive and radical assault on women’s health in our lifetime. While masquerading as legislation to simply make permanent the existing prohibition on federal funding for abortion, these bills go far beyond current law and would have far-reaching consequences for our tax code and long-standing practices in our private insurance market.

This divisive legislation does nothing to create jobs, will raise taxes on families and small businesses, and threatens a woman’s ability to access legal reproductive health services, including family planning. The majority’s budget proposal will end all Title X family planning grants, making it more difficult for health care centers to provide millions of low-income women with preventive health services – including mammograms, contraception, and cancer screenings – they otherwise could not afford.

As I have throughout my time in Congress, I will continue to fight to ensure a woman’s right to choose. We must preserve the right to privacy while promoting a comprehensive approach to reproductive health care, including planning for healthy families and ensuring comprehensive, medically accurate sex education.

You're Invited!
Small Business Panel: Best Practices on Accessing Credit

3:00 p.m., Thursday, February 24th, 2011
San Francisco Federal Building
90 7th Street, Suite B-040
Between Market St. & Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
Map It

Democrats’ number one priority is creating jobs for the American people. Last year, six Make It in America initiatives became law, including the landmark Small Business Jobs Act that provided eight tax cuts, unleashed private lending for small businesses and is projected to create 500,000 jobs. Join the Office of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, February 24th to learn and hear from industry experts to help small business owners and prospective entrepreneurs obtain affordable credit and find ways to raise capital. Panelists will include representatives from the Small Business Administration, the San Francisco Small Business Center, a microfinance organization, a local bank, and a credit union.

Expert speakers will give a basic overview of what you can do to survive, thrive, and succeed in sustaining your small business during times of limited credit resources, discuss ideas of what to do to make sure that your small business is positioned to weather the current economic situation, and ways to take advantage of the opportunities provided by recent federal legislation.