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New ‘Stick With Us’ food festival coming to Plymouth in May

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PGC board increases doe license allocations in four units in the Northeast

<p>I recently contacted U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta&#8217;s office, urging Barletta to support Planned Parenthood.</p><p>Our representative sent me a polite form letter, sharing his belief &#8220;that Americans hard-earned tax dollars should not be used to subsidize abortions.&#8221; Our congressman must know that tax dollars do not subsidize abortions due to the Hyde Amendment.</p><p>He also shared his horror regarding the fetal-tissue practices of Planned Parenthood and his co-sponsorship of HR 354, which would place an immediate moratorium on all federal funding for Planned Parenthood for one year while Congress investigates the organization&#8217;s activities.</p><p>According to federal law, a woman must give written consent to donate fetal tissue, and only after she has requested an abortion. Paying for anything beyond &#8220;reasonable&#8221; costs related to obtaining fetal tissue is illegal.</p><p><ins>Fetal tissue is being used to develop and test vaccines and treatments for HIV/AIDS, the flu, dengue fever and hepatitis B and C. Also scientists are using this tissue to understand a variety of diseases and health conditions, including vision problems, Parkinson&#8217;s disease and miscarriage. Thus, the congressman is working to prevent research that will benefit Pennsylvania&#8217;s citizens.</ins></p><p>The bill would direct funding to federally qualified health centers, forcing thousands of women to terminate their relationship with the medical entity with whom they have developed a relationship and depended upon for years. While the congressman has &#8220;repeatedly cosponsored the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer&#8221; bill, he wants to slam the door on research that has proven successful.</p><p>I appreciate the congressman&#8217;s concerns &#8220;as the father of four daughters,&#8221; but I strongly believe it is my right, as well as the right of all citizens, to determine where I receive healthcare from.</p><p><strong>Heather H. Ruseskas</strong></p><p>Plymouth</p><style>
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Your view: Barletta should support Planned Parenthood