The Taunton Gazette, Mar. 10:
Budget cuts have nothing to do with saving cash
If there's anything that makes the House Republicans' budget cutting appear to be driven more by ideology than fiscal prudence, it's a provision taking all federal funding away from Planned Parenthood.
It's against the law for federal funds to be used to pay for abortions, and it has been that way for decades.
Planned Parenthood, like other health care providers, provides a range of services for women. Every year, Planned Parenthood screens millions of women for cervical cancer, breast cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. The organization offers flu shots, diabetes screening and a host of other health services to women who might not otherwise have the means to get them. Nearly half of Planned Parenthood's clients qualify for Medicaid.
But Planned Parenthood also provides access to safe, legal abortions, and that has earned it the lasting enmity of those who would make that procedure illegal. The budget bill passed by the House would cut all funding, including Medicaid, from Planned Parenthood, likely putting it out of business.
Women in need of health services would have to go elsewhere, or go without, punished because Republicans in Congress don't like the politics of Planned Parenthood.
Proponents will argue otherwise -- that Planned Parenthood's mission is to abort as many fetuses as possible and other services somehow advance that goal. But it is illogical, at best, to assume that women who come to Planned Parenthood clinics for Pap tests, birth control or flu shots will return for abortions, as if women who aren't pregnant are infected by the mere presence of abortion referral services.
Maybe such reasoning shouldn't be surprising, since anti-abortion zealots, almost by definition, have no respect for women's ability to make their own health care decisions.
This budget cut has almost nothing to do with saving money. It is part of the larger goal of turning back the clock, not just on abortion, but on birth control and access to reproductive health services that have saved or improved countless lives. It should be opposed with equal principled fervor in defense of women's health and women's freedom.
------
Online: The Taunton Gazette, http://www.tauntongazette.com/
The Newport Daily News, Mar. 11:
Take down those gates at toll plaza
We almost had given up arguing for the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority to remove the gates across the E-ZPass lanes on the Pell Bridge. After all, we've been singing this song for the past three years, since E-ZPass was installed.
But then this week, the board of directors agreed to investigate the concept of "open road tolling," which would entail removing the gates from the E-ZPass lanes and widening them so vehicles could pass through at higher speeds, possibly up to the 40mph limit on the bridge.
The only thing that would make us happier is actually being able to drive through an E-ZPass lane on the Pell Bridge without having to practically stop for the arm to lift.
Under the proposal, the middle two lanes at the toll plaza going both on and off the bridge between Newport and Jamestown would be gateless and for E-ZPass users only. At least one of the outside lanes in each direction would be reserved for those paying cash and would retain the gates.
Board members said the decision came in response to suggestions from motorists who use the bridge regularly. It also was based on the experiences of other states that have open road tolling, which has been shown to reduce traffic jams at toll plazas and ease travel through typically congested areas -- like the Pell Bridge at the height of summer.
As more and more motorists use E-ZPass to pay tolls -- as 80 percent of the Pell Bridge's customers do now -- it makes sense to make the experience as seamless as possible.
It may take another year or so for the change to happen, as the authority develops a plan to reconfigure the toll plaza that takes into account motorist convenience as well as toll workers' safety, and to implement a system to track violators. And it may be costly to make the changes, but David A. Darlington, chairman of the authority's board, said it will not result in a toll increase -- at least not immediately.
"We think it's time for our engineers to look at what can be done, what are the benefits," he said. "We want it to be as convenient as possible."
Finally!
------
Online: The Newport Daily News, http://www.newportdailynews.com/
