The article, “Austin-area Care Providers Brace for State Cuts”, written by Mary Ann Roser of the Austin American Statesman, explains budget cuts enacted by the Texas legislature last month. The following summary of the article highlights the major points, specifically the crippling effects the funding cuts will have on health and human services.
The Texas legislature recently made deep financial cuts to health and human services, which reduced spending by a whopping $11.3 billion. These cuts have huge effects on local clinics, affecting the elderly who receive home services, those in mental health programs, and Medicaid recipients. For example, with the reduction in Medicaid payments offered by the state, hospitals are less able to offer care to low-income patients. However, an overwhelmingly large portion of the cuts was directed to forbid the funding of abortions for low-income women. The Republican majority of the legislature hit Planned Parenting hard, cutting funding by $70 million. These cuts to family planning do not just cover abortions, though, but also services such as cancer screenings and access to birth control. Other women’s health clinics that offer family planning services are experiencing budget cuts as well.
The importance of this article resides in the fact that it delineates an issue that will be affecting thousands of low-income women in Texas. Also, it highlights controversial issues between opposing ideologies, specifically the offering of social services to Texans.
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