According to a report from Teen Vogue, a crowd of Planned Parenthood Action Fund supporters gathered outside House Speaker Paul Ryan‘s office to hand-deliver 87,000 signed petitions calling on the GOP to halt their plan to defund Planned Parenthood.
In an attempt to block the crowd from delivering the petitions, Ryan reportedly sent six security guards to stand between the PP volunteers and the Speaker’s D.C. office. The petitions request that Ryan protect PP funding through Medicaid and Title X.
According to Teen Vogue, the security guards were ultimately able to prevent the petitions from being delivered, a move that prompted the hashtag #PaulRyanSoScared to start trending on Twitter.
From Teen Vogue’s Jennifer Gerson Uffalussy:
The thing is, the federal government doesn’t actually “fund” Planned Parenthood. There’s no big check or bag of money that goes to the reproductive and sexual healthcare provider and their affiliate clinics throughout the country each year. Rather, the federal funds that do go to Planned Parenthood all happen in the form of reimbursements for services rendered through Medicaid, the federal and state program that provides health insurance to the working poor, and Title X, the federal family planning program for low-income Americans. Furthermore, because of the Hyde Amendment passed in 1976, no federal funding can in any way go toward abortion services; abortion is the only medical procedure explicitly banned from Medicaid coverage.
#PaulRyanSoScared, you work for us Paul, not the other way around. How dare you not accept petitions. Pathetic no balls jerk.
— Lori Patano (@lori_patano) January 6, 2017
Let's not forget this masterpiece from The Minnesota State Fair #PaulRyanSoScared pic.twitter.com/7qO7qvJ8RS
— Lizz "Insufferable Wench" Winstead (@lizzwinstead) January 7, 2017
Declaration of Independence 1776: One who fails to answer citizen petitions is "unfit to be the ruler of a free people" #PaulRyanSoScared
— Dr Deborah Harkness (PhD, LHD) (@DebHarkness) January 7, 2017
If you think you're man enough to deny women healthcare, be man enough to meet them #paulryansoscared
— Anger is my super power🖕🏼 (@FierceFeminist1) January 7, 2017
BREAKING: Paul Ryan reached a complete state of panic when he saw a few @PPact supporters with petitions! #PaulRyanSoScared #StandWithPP pic.twitter.com/PFzAyFU4GQ
— #RemoveTrump (@Blue______Wave) January 7, 2017
https://twitter.com/RFitzjarrald/status/817512400249360384
I hear that #PaulRyanSoScared of hearing from the public, so it may be useful to know that his toll-free number is 888-909-7926.
— David Bates (@DavidBWriter) January 6, 2017
Featured image via Planned Parenthood
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