Nearly 800 people attended the Planned Parenthood Lobby Day 2005 on Tuesday to learn how to lobby the government by talking directly to legislators.
Government sophomore Ali Puente and other UT students joined women's health supporters at the event.
"I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday," said Puente, president of UT student group Voices for Choice. "I get to impact something I really believe in."
Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region and the Women's Health and Family Planning Association of Texas organized the lobby day. Students from as far as the University of North Texas in Denton took the day off to come and show their support.
"Average people give up their jobs, their family, their school for the day and become part of the legislative process," said Danielle Tierney, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood.
State legislators, including state Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, and state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, spoke in the morning at the Austin Convention Center, expressing their support for family planning measures before providing a workshop on lobbying in the early afternoon. The lobby day concluded with an evening rally in front of the Capitol.
Planned Parenthood supporters highlighted a bill authored by state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas. Senate Bill 747 would allow broader access to basic Medicaid services for women that earn less than $35,000 a year. Currently, only those who earn less than $3,000 a year qualify.
Services under the bill include routine gynecological care, family planning and education about contraception. Carona does not support legalized abortions, but rather supports preventative measures for abortions, according to his spokesman, Alan Burrows.
"He's not your typical Planned Parenthood rabble-rouser in this senate," said Tierney, referring to Carona's anti-abortion stance.
Carona, and other supporters, were quick to point out that the bill would lead to long-term savings for the state.
According the Medicaid statute, the U.S. Congress is required to provide $9 in federal matching funds for every state dollar spent on preventative services. According to Peggy Romberg, executive director of the Women's Health and Family Planning Association of Texas, total net savings in four years could amount to over $131 million.
"Women will be healthier with better family planning, Medicaid births will go down, and there will be fewer abortions. There's no reason not to pass a bill like this," said Romberg.
She also said the bill would increase access to family planning facilities for over one million women, and that 21 states already have such measures in place.
Lobbyists opposed only one bill, House Bill 16, introduced by state Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, that could allow pharmacists to deny women contraceptive prescriptions if providing birth control violates their personal beliefs.
Planned Parenthood supporters advocated were HB 646, which provides emergency contraception for all sexual assault survivors, authored by state Sen. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. They also supported HB 1354, introduced by state Rep. Mike Villareal, D-San Antonio which calls for stronger resources for women's insurance.
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