UPDATED: VIRGINIANS! TELL YOUR DELEGATE TO REJECT THEIR 2014 BUDGET

HERE'S delegate tom rust's reply to me on this issue...

Dear Mr. S:

Thank you for your question concerning funding for Planned Parenthood.  The matter was debated in the House of Delegates on February 20.  The budget amendment prohibiting any funds for Planned Parenthood was Item 4-5.04 #1h.  I voted 'no'.  The matter passed 67Yes-31No with, as stated, my vote being 'no'.

In regards to the November election, I will note that I was elected in a district which voted for Governor McAuliffe by 21% over Mr. Cuccinelli.  My moderate voting record attracted informed Democrats who want a representative who is not afraid to take the tough votes and represent the district.

I appreciate you contacting me on this important subject.

Best regards,
Thomas Davis Rust
Virginia House of Delegates 86th District
730 Elden Street
Herndon, VA  20170
P:  703-437-9400
F:  703-435-6655
website:  www.tomrust.org

________________________________________
From: PP Advocates of Virginia <info@ppav.org> on behalf of Craig Schwanke <bucknackt@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 9:19 PM
To: Tom Rust
Subject: Stand up for Women's Health. Reject this budget!

Feb 17, 2014

Delegate Thomas Rust
General Assembly Building, Room 820
910 Capitol Square
Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Delegate Rust,

I am writing to you today to ask that you reject the house budget which
includes defunding Planned Parenthood.

This is a blatant attempt to prevent Virginia women from accessing
vital health care services in the Commonwealth.

The bottom line is this: Virginia women and families need more access
to health care, not less. More than half of all pregnancies in Virginia
are unintended and in 2008, there were 375,500 women in need of
publicly supported contraceptive services and supplies. Furthermore,
Virginia ranks in the worst category for rates of breast cancer deaths
among both African American and white women.

Defunding Planned Parenthood does nothing to provide Virginia women
with basic health care, instead it shifts family planning money away
from Planned Parenthood -- the trusted provider for 24,000 Virginians.

We are tired of the class warfare, social injustice, and hypocrisy of
too many in the House of Delegates. You cut the least among us off from
health care and all the other social safety net programs too many in
the commonwealth need, but proclaim your support for the sanctity of
life, but only until birth, then you feel no moral responsibility, no
compassion, for those needing help. You are blind and deaf to the lack
of social justice in your political actions. I have to ask, what god
teaches the greed and callousness you practice?
Specifically to you Delegate Rust, you need to remember you won your
reelection by 34 votes. That is not an endorsement of the tea-bagger
policies you have supported in the past. You have an obligation to
represent all the people of our district, and you must vote against
this budget.

It is inappropriate to keep women from their trusted provider, Planned
Parenthood.

Thank you for taking the time to hear my thoughts on this issue. I
trust you will stand up for women's health by rejecting this budget.

Sincerely,

VIRGINIANS! In 2013 we didn't elect the gop / tea-bagger ticket as our Governor, Lt Governor or Attorney General because of their extremist views. We didn't elect their candidates in the special elections for the VA Senate in Jan 14 for the same reason. But the neanderthals in the VA House of Delegates just didn't get the message. Planned Parenthood is asking all Virginians to contact their Delegate and tell them to vote against their budget that attacks a woman's right to make her own reproductive decisions, fails to provide health insurance to 400,000 low income working people, and defunding Planned Parenthood, denying tens of thousands of the Commonwealth's poor access to their only health care. Click the link to send a message to your Delegate...
Here is my letter to my Delegate, tom rust r 86th...

Defunding Planned Parenthood does nothing to provide Virginia women with basic health care, instead it shifts family planning money away from Planned Parenthood -- the trusted provider for 24,000 Virginians.
We are tired of the class warfare, social injustice, and hypocrisy of too many in the House of Delegates. You cut the least among us off from health care and all the other social safety net programs too many in the commonwealth need, but proclaim your support for the sanctity of life, but only until birth, then you feel no moral responsibility, no compassion, for those needing help. You are blind and deaf to the lack of social justice in your political actions. I have to ask, what god teaches the greed and callousness you practice?
Specifically to you Delegate Rust, you need to remember you won your reelection by 34 votes. That is not an endorsement of the tea-bagger policies you have supported in the past. You have an obligation to represent all the people of our district, and you must vote against this budget. 

First a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and now a budget amendment to do the same.  The house's budget attacks access to reproductive care in many ways including defunding fetal anomaly abortion for low income women, prohibiting funding for gubernatoraial action on TRAP (targeted regulations on abortion providers, not closing the coverage gap to ensure 400,000 working, low income people receive health care, and of course- defunding Planned Parenthood.   The recent election shows it is clear that Virginians have had enough of extreme politicians who want to restrict access to quality and affordable health care.  Women don’t need a politician telling them where they can get their Pap tests, breast cancer screenings or birth control. Tell your Delegate to reject this budget today. The bottom line is this: Virginia women and families need more access to health care, not less. More than half of all pregnancies in Virginia are unintended and in 2008, there were 375,500 women in need of publicly supported contraceptive services and supplies. Furthermore, Virginia ranks in the worst category for rates of breast cancer deaths among both African American and white women. Defunding Planned Parenthood does nothing to provide Virginia women with basic health care, instead it shifts family planning money away from Planned Parenthood -- the trusted provider for 24,000 Virginians.  It is inappropriate to keep women from their trusted provider, Planned Parenthood. Tell your Delegate to reject this budget today. Thank you so much for your continued support, Cianti Stewart-Reid Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia

visit ppav.org © 2014 Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia

VA General Assembly wrap up: how did we do it? 17MAR12

LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF VIRGINIA, some wins, some losses, the fight for women's rights continue in our Commonwealth.......

Forgetting their election promises of job creation, strengthening the economy, and passing a fiscally responsible budget, anti-choice legislator’s this session focused on attacking women’s health care.  But it didn’t work. In all, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia worked to defeat 14 anti-choice bills that threatened access to reproductive health care, prevention services, and the perennial attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. However, with your help we worked to defeat all but one bill! Here’s how we did it: We defeated the so-called ‘personhood’ bill, House Bill 1. This bill would have had far reaching and dangerous consequences- laying the legal foundation to ban abortion and contraception in the Commonwealth. On February 23rd, during our Virginia Pro-Choice Day of Action, ‘personhood’ was passed out of the Senate Education and Health committee. Then, while we were calling our senators and supporters and rallying on this issue, this bill was defeated on the Senate floor with a vote to carry the bill over to 2013! (Check out photos of supporters taking action!) This wouldn't have been possible without your passion and dedication! We ALSO defeated House Bill 62, which would have repealed coverage to Medicaid-eligible women who need abortion care because something has gone terribly wrong with their pregnancy. This legislation targeted the most vulnerable population of women in the Commonwealth - low-income or uninsured women on Medicaid would have been forced to carry a pregnancy to term or pay for doctor recommended care out of pocket. During our Day of Action we called key supporters and gave them the opportunity to make their voices heard on HB 62 – and the bill was passed by indefinitely! Lastly, we defeated attempts to eliminate the requirement that girls entering the 6th grade receive the human papillomavirus vaccine for school attendance. As with other immunization requirements, the HPV requirement includes an opt-out provision for parents who object to this vaccination. Since this law was enacted in October of 2008, over 65,000 young girls have accessed the HPV vaccination through the State’s immunization program. Defeating this bill was a fiscally and medically responsible decision on behalf of the Commonwealth and young girls and their families will continue to have the ability to choose whether or not to utilize the protections afforded by the vaccination. Unfortunately, we could not defeat every bill that was introduced. As many of you now may know, HB 462 (mandatory ultrasound), has been passed by the General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor McDonnell last week. The bill is slated to take effect on July 1, 2012. HB 462 requires a woman to have an ultrasound prior to an abortion and imposes an additional mandatory waiting period. The extended delay places an undue burden on women across the state seeking safe, legal abortion care. It is truly regrettable that the General Assembly decided to, not only play politics with women’s health, but to also tell doctors how to practice medicine. We know that without your hard work and support, the outcome would look a lot worse. THANK YOU for spending countless hours writing letters and making phone calls to your General Assembly members and working with us to contact constituents about these issues. Our efforts in the General Assembly to protect women’s reproductive health would not be possible without your support and activism throughout the year. Thank you!