Obama Plans to Take a Hatchet to Women's Health?

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address asked: what do we need those domestic programs for anyway? Off with their heads!

The call for a blanket freeze on all domestic spending is about as welcome as the next Ice Age. Tapping into the ol' common sense, it seems like among all those domestic programs we spend oodles of money on every year, we might need to make some increases year by year. The cost of just about everything goes up yearly.

For agreement on this we go to -- Barack Obama? Yes, candidate Obama said a lot of things that President Obama has mentally blocked out. RH Reality Check points out that when Republican candidate John McCain suggested, well, pretty much exactly what the State of the Union address proposed, Obama quipped, "The problem is you're using a hatchet when you need a scalpel." Well apparently Obama's not interesting in trying out his surgeon skills, instead opting to prove his might at felling funding to domestic programs. Tim-ber!

Over on Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias explains that this will not mean all programs get frozen the exact same way. Some will get more, some less, but the overall net result would have to be a frozen solid. Obama should certainly have said that cuts will be made, budgets will be frozen, where we can afford to do this. Unfortunately, by going all hard-line on domestic spending, Obama's insistence could lead to a number of programs getting frozen that we can't afford to lose, such as women's health programs. And it won't solve our deficit issues anyway.

Obama, in case you didn't realize, a freeze in domestic spending isn't going to freeze our domestic problems, especially in already underfunded areas. The AIDS epidemic isn't going to enter hibernation because you've cut off increased federal funding for prevention services. And when the thaw comes and you do start up increased domestic spending again, guess what? The problem will have grown worse than before, and it'll cost even more money to beat beat back to former levels of submission. Get the picture? Here's another example of why this is a terrible idea: slashing family planning will lead to more unintended pregnancies, increasing both the rate of abortion and the financial strain on families who choose to have the baby, boosting the need for social services and government aid.

Sometimes, the best way to save money, is to spend money on what you need. These sexual and reproductive health services are among the programs that need more funding, not less -- the priority should be making sure we're still providing vital services, not getting all worked up about hitting an exact freeze. So, Obama, ditch the hatchet, and break out the scalpel.

Photo credit: Jinx!