Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 24, 2019

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 24, 2019 


CHU STATEMENT ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD 
BEING FORCED OUT OF TITLE X PROGRAM

HOLDEN SCORES EARLY VICTORIES 
FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL 
DISABILITIES

 
On Monday afternoon, Planned Parenthood 
announced they would be withdrawing from the 
Title X federal grant program, which provides 
funding for contraception, cancer screenings, 
family planning, and STI testing for 4 million 
low-income patients a year. The decision comes 
after a federal appeals court in California failed 
to block the Trump Administration’s “Title X 
gag rule” which prohibits any Title X grantee 
from providing or even referring patients to 
abortion services, even if a patient requests 
such information. About 40% of Title X patients 
received their care through Planned Parenthood. 
Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) issued the following 
statement:

 “Title X ensures 4 million patients each year 
have access to necessary health care like cancer 
screenings and STI testing. It has successfully 
done this with bipartisan support for half a 
century. But now, Donald Trump and Mike Pence, 
two men without a medical degree between them, 
are making that healthcare contingent on patients 
being denied full and accurate information about 
their own bodies. Even if she asked her doctor 
a direct question about her healthcare options, 
a patient would be denied accurate information 
by this detestable gag rule. Unable to control 
women’s bodies directly, Trump and Pence are 
instead trying to control the conversations they 
can have with their doctors, violating the doctor-
patient relationship and creating a situation 
where women are given incomplete or inaccurate 
medical advice.

 “Worse, by making Title X funding contingent 
on a doctor giving patients false or incomplete 
medical advice, 
the Trump 
administration 
is making 
healthcare 
even harder to 
access for the 
most vulnerable 
among us. 
Almost half of all 
Title X recipients 
receive care 
from a Planned 
Parenthood, 
because often, Planned Parenthood is the only 
provider they can access in their communities. 
Those women and their families are now victims 
of this gag rule and the awful choice it forces 
on doctors. Fortunately, Planned Parenthood 
has committed to keeping its doors open and 
providing medically accurate care to its patients. 
However, the loss of this funding is a substantial 
threat to providers like Planned Parenthood and 
smaller Title X clinics, who could shut down 
without this funding, leaving some women 
without an affordable healthcare option in 
their community. I’m deeply concerned for the 
millions who are now at risk of having no place 
to go for contraception, family planning, health 
screenings, and more. I am proud the House of 
Representatives passed a funding bill for FY2020 
that repealed this discriminatory gag rule, but this 
rule must be repealed outright. The millions of 
Americans who depend on Planned Parenthood 
for their healthcare simply cannot afford to wait.” 

 

 While most advocates must wait until 
September or October for their proposals 
to be signed into law, efforts to help 
people with developmental disabilities 
have turned into early victories thanks 
to legislative and budget proposals by 
Assemblymember Chris Holden. The 
impacts of these victories will result in 
$400 million for developmental disability 
service providers, $3 million for speech-
language pathologist training, and better 
standards for music therapy.

 “I’m proud of the work we did to 
better align our legislative and budget 
priorities with the simple fact that people 
born with developmental disabilities 
possess the exact same human rights as 
all other members of our society,” said 
Assemblymember Holden. “We could not 
have achieved these early victories without 
the energy and commitment of families, 
advocates, and service providers of the 
developmental disability community.” 

 The new funding for developmental 
disability service providers will help the 
nearly 330,000 Californians living with 
developmental disabilities including 
autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, 
and intellectual disabilities. These funds 
will enable service providers to continue 
their work – helping people gain the tools 
to become successful and productive 
members of our community.

 “Thanks to the work of these service 
providers, people are now living, 
working and thriving as members of our 
communities and it is essential these 
service providers remain open and funded 
at appropriate levels,” said Holden.

 The $3 million for speech-language 
pathologist training will help close the 
speech-language pathologist shortage the 
state is experiencing. The new funds will 
expand existing programs in California 
State University (CSU) system. Speech and 
language is one of the largest disabilities in 
students and is growing each year. Many 
of these students have developmental or 
intellectual disabilities.

 Lastly, Holden’s music therapy certification 
bill, AB 1540, strengthens standards for 
music therapists to protect consumers 
from potential harm or misrepresentation 
from individuals that are not board 
certified music therapists. Music therapists 
are helpful to a wide range of individuals, 
from helping children with autism develop 
their verbal and social skills, to helping 
veterans manage Post Traumatic Stress 
Disorder, to working with stroke victims, 
and many others. 
“We took big steps forward on behalf of 
the developmental disability community 
this year, but we still have more to do,” said 
Holden.

SCHIFF INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO CREATE 
A FEDERAL DOMESTIC TERRORISM CRIME

 


 Rep. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 
introduced legislation last week – The Confronting 
the Threat of Domestic Terrorism Act – that 
would create a federal domestic terrorism crime. 
It would cover, among other things, terrorist 
acts by domestic actors without links to foreign 
organizations; and thus ensure that attacks like 
the one in El Paso, the Tree of Life Synagogue in 
Pittsburgh, and the Emanuel African Episcopal 
Church in Charleston can be punished for what 
they are – terrorism.

 Even though Americans today are more likely to 
be killed by white-supremacists than international 
terrorism organizations while on American soil, 
treating these terrorist acts, including racist or 
anti-Semitic shootings, differently than other acts 
of terrorism makes the public take it less seriously. 
This legislation will tackle that challenge by 
providing new and necessary tools to prosecutors 
and investigators to respond to the rising threat of 
domestic terrorism.

 Schiff stated: “The attack in El Paso by a white 
supremacist is only the most recent in a disturbing 
and growing trend of domestic terrorism, 
fueled by racism and hatred. The Confronting 
the Threat of Domestic Terrorism Act would 
for the first time create a domestic terrorism 
crime, and thus provide prosecutors with new 
tools to combat these devastating crimes. When 
violence fueled by homegrown, hateful ideology 
poses a more immediate threat to the safety and 
security of Americans on American soil than an 
international terrorist organization, it’s time for 
our laws to catch up. The bill is also narrowly 
tailored to violent terrorist acts, and includes 
a variety of civil liberties protections to ensure 
against its misuse.”

 The legislation is narrowly crafted and includes 
protections to ensure it is not misused. Among 
other things, it requires that before any charges 
may be brought, the Attorney General or their 
deputy provide a written certification that in 
their judgement the crimes committed meet 
the standards of the statute - including the 
requirement that the offender intended to 
intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to 
influence government policy through coercion 
or intimidation. It further requires the Privacy 
and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) 
to prepare a public report on the civil liberties 
implications of the statute within four years 
of passage. Finally, unlike the international 
terrorism context, it does not establish a list of 
domestic terrorism organizations, something that 
potentially raises serious First Amendment issues.

SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT URGES PUBLIC TO 
DRIVE SOBER! 

 As summer comes to a close, 
the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s 
Department is asking drivers to 
not get behind the wheel after 
drinking or using drugs that 
impact your ability to drive 
safely.

 The Los Angeles County 
Sheriff’s Department is joining 
law enforcement agencies across 
the country in the national 
enforcement campaign, Drive 
Sober or Get Pulled Over. 
During this period, which 
started last night and runs to 
Sept. 2 (Labor Day), the Sheriff’s 
Department will have additional 
deputies on the road looking 
for drivers suspected of driving 
under the influence of alcohol 
and/or drugs.

 Labor Day Weekend remains 
one of the deadliest times 
of year for alcohol-involved 
crashes. According to the 
National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, there were 
376 deadly crashes nationwide 
during the 2017 Labor Day 
holiday period (Sept. 1 to Sept. 
5). Among those crashes, more 
than one-third (36%) involved 
a drunk driver. Last year, two 
people were killed, and 31 others 
injured in California on Labor 
Day alone.

 “There are so many ways 
to get home safely without 
driving,” Los Angeles County 
Sheriff’s Department, Sergeant 
Robert Hill, said. “Driving while 
drunk or high is dangerous, 
irresponsible and causes too 
many senseless tragedies. We 
hope that drivers get the message 
that driving impaired will never 
be tolerated.”

 Driving while impaired is 
illegal, whether it is alcohol, 
prescription drugs, over-
the-counter medications or 
marijuana.

 If you plan on drinking or 
are taking medications that 
can affect your driving ability, 
designate a sober driver or use 
a ride-share service. If you see 
someone driving impaired, call 
911.

 Funding for DUI enforcement 
is provided by a grant from the 
California Office of Traffic Safety, 
through the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration.


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