Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, especially protested the proposed elimination of Title X of the Public Health Service Act, which covers HIV testing, cancer screening, blood-pressure testing, post-partum counseling and contraceptive services for more than 5 million low-income women, two-thirds of them uninsured.

“We certainly have allies in the Senate, but I’m too experienced to say this could never [pass],” said Judy Lichtman, a senior adviser at the National Partnership for Women and Families. “Terrible amendments have been introduced to must-pass bills where lots of other things are at stake. To argue that this would never happen would give women and families a false sense of security. With the anti-choice forces in the Senate, I’m very nervous.”

This recommendation is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, the March of Dimes, Naral Pro-Choice America, the National Partnership for Women and Families, the National Women’s Law Center and scores of Democrats in Congress.