For those of you who do not know, our esteemed governor Rick Perry enacted a new law that barred Planned Parenthood from Texas’ Medicaid Women’s Health Program. As a result of this drastic exclusion, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in March that all federal Medicaid funding for family planning would be terminated since Medicaid law states it is illegal for a state to restrict a woman’s ability to choose a medical provider based on the services they provide like abortions.

Perry had already cut two-thirds of the state’s family planning budget. Simply put, Perry is trying to throw Planned Parenthood out of Texas because they give women the option of abortion even though it is a proven fact that less than five percent of Planned Parenthood’s funds go towards abortions.

Call me naive, but I had assumed a hearing informally entitled “Save the Texas Women’s Health Program” would be more than a debate about abortion. I thought it would address all aspects of women’s health, like breast cancer screenings, well woman exams and prenatal care.

The auditorium was too small to accommodate the 200 attendees who came out to either support or oppose Perry’s unprecedented decision to cut the Texas Women’s Health Program (TWHP).

Approximately 140,000 Texan women depend on the TWHP, so I think it is accurate to say Perry ignored women. The audience was a mixture of nurses, former Planned Parenthood clients, politicians from across Texas, Planned Parenthood supporters, Texas Right to Life staff and supporters wearing fetus shirts and waving pamphlets. Everyone had the opportunity to give testimonials supporting or opposing Perry’s decision.

I want to say how amazing and uplifting the hearing was, but let’s analyze and digest the implications of this hearing. The hearing was indictive of whether women’s health is a priority for our governor.

Our governor’s crusade to rid the state of abortion services has gone too far and could potentially cost low-income women their lives. He is making this issue about abortion, ignoring women’s health. Breast cancer survivors and women newly diagnosed with cervical cancer asked Rick Perry to reconsider and remember the health of women. Health professionals, retired and still practicing, asked our governor and his minions to reconsider forcing them to surrender to his political ideology instead of adhering to their medical ethics.

The fact that women had to start an online petition to get their governor to acknowledge their existence is pitiful. Rick Perry is undoubtedly placing political ideology over the health and wellness of Texas women.