Pssst-Pass it On: University of Vermont Students Oppose the Pence Amendment!

University of Vermont Senator and Speaker take matters into their own hands!

Students at the University of Vermont Show They are Willing to Fight for What is Important–Women’s Health!

On February 25, 2011,  Senator Lederer-Plaskett  and Speaker of the Senate Chevrier sponsored a resolution in opposition to the Pence Amendment. 

They used the attached PowerPoint presentation to help make their argument. Click to view: PPHPWPT 

An overwhelming majority of the Student Government Senate then voted in support of the resolution.

Knowing the power of the vote, the University of Vermont Student Government Association will send the resolution to Vermont’s U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, urging them to vote ‘nay’ on the Pence Amendment, in an effort to protect the health and well being of all Vermont Residents, including students at the University of Vermont.

Pass this on to the students you know. They can join forces with students at the University of Vermont and around the country.

Below is the text of the resolution:

Resolution in Opposition to the Pence Amendment

Whereas, the Pence Amendment and Proposed Budget Cuts passed the U.S. House of Representatives on February 17, 2011,

Whereas, the Pence Amendment and Proposed Budget Cuts will end all Federal Funding for Planned Parenthood and 102 affiliated organizations

Whereas, the current federal funding makes up approximately 37% of Planned Parenthood’s annual budget[1],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood provides life-saving cancer screenings and pap smears, STI and HIV Testing, and distributes Contraception and information about Family Planning free of charge[2],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood provides free health care services to those who cannot afford them,

Whereas, Planned Parenthood maintains that if the Pence Amendment passed in the Senate, 48% of their patients would be unable to utilize Planned Parenthood’s services and therefore would have no way of accessing their chosen form of health care[3],

Whereas, the Hyde Amendment prohibits any federal funding for abortion, excluding abortions due to rape or incest, or a threat to the life of the woman, eliminating the possibility of federal funding for Planned Parenthood from being used to fund abortion procedures[4],

Whereas, without Federal Funding Planned Parenthood would be unable to provide much needed services and would be forced to close as many as eight hundred clinics[5],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood serves 3 million Americans, and 21,000 Vermonters annually[6],

Whereas, the University of Vermont Student Government Association believes that the budget cuts to Planned Parenthood would have an extremely detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of the UVM Student Body and the United States as a whole,

Be It Resolved that the University of Vermont Student Government Association demands the continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood and other Women’s Health Organizations,

Be it Further Resolved that the University of Vermont Student Government Association urges its U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, to vote ‘nay’ on the Pence Amendment, in an effort to protect the health and wellbeing of all Vermont Residents, including students at the University of Vermont.


[1] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[2] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

[3] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[4] http://www.factcheck.org/2010/04/the-abortion-issue/

[5] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[6] Ibid