100 Days: What Trump Says vs. What Trump Does

By Carolyn Cox | May 2, 2017, 2:23 p.m.

Category: Abortion Access, Attacks on Planned Parenthood

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Despite claims to the contrary, the Trump administration and many congressional Republicans have put forward policies that have targeted women at every opportunity in their first 100 days. Since Day One, women have been instrumental in fueling the resistance to these dangerous attacks on our communities at home and abroad.

Women and men marched in historic numbers, spoke out at town halls during recesses, and jammed congressional call lines as lawmakers tried to ram through their bill that would have gutted maternity care, repealed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and “defunded” Planned Parenthood. But politicians won’t stop attacking women’s health just because they suffered a blow trying to repeal the ACA. It’s clear that extreme anti-abortion politicians will stop at nothing to claw back women’s health and rights – and we’ll need to continue to fight back with everything we’ve got.

Read on to see the hypocrisy that lies between what President Trump and Congress say — and what they actually do.

What They Say

I cherish women. I want to help women. I'm going to do things for women that no other candidate will be able to do. 

Donald Trump, August 9, 2015

Source: CNN

On the campaign trail: Donald Trump said many times that nobody respects women more than him. Nobody. But his actions — and the actions of so many others in Congress and within his administration — tell a different story.

What They Do

Jan. 23: President Trump endangered the health of millions of women and girls worldwide by reinstating and expanding the dangerous global gag rule.  

Jan. 24: The House passed a bill to make the Hyde Amendment — which denies low-income women public insurance coverage for abortion — permanent law.

Jan. 27:

• President Trump signed his first executive order on immigration, undermining safety in immigrant communities — including for thousands of women and children.

• Vice President Pence doubled down on his extreme anti-woman agenda by pledging that the Trump administration will block access to health care for millions of people who rely on providers like Planned Parenthood.

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What They Say

 

Feb. 28: President Trump vowed to "invest in women's health" in his State of the Union address.

What They Do

March 6:

• The White House and Congress tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a move that would have gutted maternity coverage, cut insurance coverage of abortion, and “defunded” Planned Parenthood — which means prohibiting  patients who rely on Medicaid from going to Planned Parenthood for birth control, cancer screenings, Pap tests, and other vital health care.

• President Trump also updated his travel ban, threatening to pull families apart by banning refugees and immigrants from six majority-Muslim countries. The State Department reported that over 72% of all refugees resettled in the United States last year are women and children. Ten days later this ban, like the previous, was halted by a judge.

March 16: Trump's budget proposal recommended cutting funding for HHS by nearly 20%, which could decimate funding for domestic violence programs, maternal and child nutrition and health programs, Medicaid and Medicare — all of which are disproportionately important for women.

March 24 to today: The plan to ram through a bill to repeal the ACA and block patients from care at Planned Parenthood collapsed before the bill came to a vote in the House, but negotiations continue.

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What They Say

March 29: The White House held a Women's Empowerment Summit and Trump explained,

"My administration will work every day to ensure that our economy is a place where women can work, succeed, and thrive like never before."

What They Do

March 27: President Trump revoked Obama's fair pay and safe workplaces orders that protected women and people of color from discrimination and harassment.

March 30: Vice President Pence cast the Senate’s tie-breaking vote to dismantle a rule reinforcing Title X patients’ access to family planning care.

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What They Say

April 11: At a Strategy and Policy meeting with CEOs, President Trump said,

"We’re also working to modernize our economy and harness the full potential of women in the workforce, which is crucial to our economic success."

 

What They Do

April 4: The Trump administration announced it will end U.S. funds to UNFPA, cutting off support for family planning, maternal health, and gender equity programs abroad.

April 7:  The Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch — who has a history of interfering with reproductive rights and health —  to the Supreme Court.

April 13:  President Trump signed the repeal of protections for Title X patients’ access to family planning care.

April 20: The White House and House Republicans revived the health care bill once again to negotiate away key ACA protections that are crucial to women. Key bargaining chips included protections for those with pre-existing conditions -- doing away with those protections would allow insurers to claim that having given birth, having had a C-section, and even being a survivor of domestic violence are so-called pre-existing conditions that they can discriminate against.

April 28: President Trump appointed a noted anti-women’s health leader who peddles dangerous myths about abortion and birth control to HHS’ top communications post.

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How We Are Fighting Back

Since the history-making Women’s Marches around the world, women have been a driving force in standing up and protecting health care and rights in the face of incredible adversity. A few examples:

Women showed up at town hall meetings to call out their representatives for supporting policies that would “defund” and eliminate health programs women rely on.

Planned Parenthood patient Shannon Black told her moving story at Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s Utah town hall on February 9. “In 2011, I found myself uninsured, caring for my three children on my own. And the only place I could turn to keep protecting myself was Planned Parenthood,” she said.

 

Planned Parenthood patient Grecia Magdaleno shared, through tears, how Planned Parenthood saved her life at Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s Tennessee town hall on February 21.

 

Uprorious applause broke out after supporter Janet Katz stood up for Planned Parenthood and stood up to Rep. Leonard Lance at his New Jersey town hall on April 12.

 

High school junior Deja Foxx took Rep. Jeff Flake to task on Planned Parenthood at his Arizona town hall on April 13.

 

But that’s not all.

Women joined rallies at airports across the country to protest the ban and offer support to arriving immigrants impacted by President Trump’s dangerous travel ban. The ban, currently blocked, would impose faith and nation-based restrictions on refugees seeking to enter the US; this policy is clearly designed to target Muslims.

Women jammed the phone lines as the House Republicans tried to ram through their bill that would have gutted maternity care and “defunded” Planned Parenthood.

And since the inauguration, women helped Planned Parenthood build an army of more than  150,000 Defenders have committed to doing anything they can to protect care at Planned Parenthood  health centers.

Tags: Congress, Paul Ryan, 100 Days, Mike Pence, Title X, Donald Trump, Planned Parenthood, birth control, Abortion