Legislators in the United States government are elected to serve the interests of the people. The job of a politician in the House or Senate is to identify and address issues relative to the very people that them. The tide has turned as Republican Party legislators have ignored what their constituents want and instead answer to those above them on the political totem pole.
Paul Ryan, the Republican house speaker from Wisconsin, recently made an announcement that the Obamacare repeal bill isn’t going to just eliminate Obamacare, but is bundled with another bill that aims to defund all federal funding Planned Parenthood receives. After this announcement, activists from Planned Parenthood arrived at Ryan’s office with petitions with 87,000 signatures as a protest to show that the people support reproductive healthcare and stand behind Planned Parenthood and the services it provides to the American people.
You would think that a legislator would address his constituents and acknowledge their concerns, but not Paul Ryan. The protestors were unable to deliver the petitions because he ordered six security guards to remove the protestors from the building. Individuals posted photos on Twitter showing the presence of security guards and confirming that they were not able to deliver the petitions. The protestors chose to deliver the petitions to a nearby Democrat office instead.
Paul Ryan does not look out for the American people. He doesn’t care about what they want and instead answers to the Republican Party, particularly protecting the interests of the wealthy and religious zealots. In September 2015 a national poll was conducted and it discovered that Planned Parenthood had more support and was more popular than any of the presidential candidates or even the National Rifle Association (NRA), which has strong ties to the Republican Party in Washington.
Planned Parenthood federal funding is not used for abortions. Less than 3 percent of the services they provide are for abortions, and they are privately funded. Funding for Planned Parenthood helps low-income Americans with critical health services including pap smears, mammograms, and low-cost birth control. The fact that Ryan would not even accept the petitions proves that democracy as we know it is a thing of the past and the new Republican administration is responsible for that.
You can contact speaker Paul Ryan to voice your disappointment with his actions by calling his office at (202) 225-0600. He also has three district offices you can reach out to as alternatives. These can be contacted by calling one of the following phone numbers: (262) 752-4050, (262) 637-0510 or (608) 752-4050.