House Dems to axe birth control funds from stimulus bill.

Heckava job, Boner!

WASHINGTON -- Democratic leaders in the House are nearly certain to drop federal funding for new contraceptive services and on-going programs to stop sexually transmitted diseases from the $825 billion economic stimulus bill due to hit the floor Tuesday, a senior official told FOX News.

The decision is due Tuesday morning in advance of two high-profile meetings President Obama will hold with House and Senate Republicans to build bipartisan support for his massive economic stimulus bill. The bill contains $87 billion in emergency Medicaid funding to help states crushed by deficits.
More than 40 states find themselves facing huge deficits brought on by the deteriorating economy and subsequent loss of tax revenue and rise in social service spending.

As orignially written, the House Democratic bill included more than $300 million in funds to slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. It also included a provision -- the one that's drawn the most GOP fire -- that provides a 9-to-1 match of federal funds to state funds to provide contraceptives to poor women who qualified under Medicaid. The bill would also provide the same contraceptives to women whose income was 200 percent of the federal poverty level, a significant increase in funding.

The contraceptive funding is an effort to expand federal efforts to prevent unwanted births. Currently, Medicaid provides family planning services after women become pregnant. This move would focus all federal funds on contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies, not the other family planning services Medicaid provides.
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