Letter: Regressive cuts harm women’s care
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Washington women and families need a genuine solution to our state’s budget crisis now. Contrasted with the Senate Democrats and the House budget, the recently passed Republican Senate budget offers pathetic solutions to the $1 billion budget shortfall. Those cuts drastically affect pregnant women, and strip state funding for birth control and cancer screenings for low-income women. These cuts will in turn cause unplanned pregnancies, and cut families from medical and nutritional care, upping the cost to Washington taxpayers.
The cost from cuts of $6 million from family planning, which helps to reduce unintended pregnancies, will ultimately land in the taxpayers’ laps due to increased Medicaid costs.
I’ve called and emailed my legislator, Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, in the 18th District. I encourage other women and men in Washington to do the same, whether or not they would immediately benefit from these government resources. In the end, the cuts will impair every resident of the state, despite their economic and social standing.
We need to reject regressive budget cuts that affect those who are most susceptible, and reform the tax break system that awards special interests while women and families suffer from devastating cuts.
Caitlin Sinkewicz
Vancouver
