Economic help may be on the way! But not for everyone, including poor women who can’t afford to have a baby in this horrible economy.

The House on Wednesday passed an $819 billion economic stimulus package, despite the fact not a single Republican backed the bill; eleven Democrats also voted against it. Those Democrats aren’t necessarily against a stimulus, but think the price tag is just too big, and want more tax cuts.

"The underlying bill, while it has some good provisions, has a lot of wasteful provisions and slow-moving spending in it," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-OH.

One controversial piece that didn’t make it, however, was a provision that would have offered family-planning services – including contraceptives – via Medicaid for low-income people. That matter became particularly controversial this week after Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives blasted its inclusion, a protest that may have led President Obama to call lawmakers and ask for its removal. Now, states need a federal waiver before they can use Medicaid to provide those services.

Women’s groups are reeling over the news. Planned Parenthood yesterday urged people to call the White House directly to voice support for the Medicaid Family Planning State Option, arguing that it would extend safety-net health-care coverage for millions and could allow 2.3 million low-income women to receive coverage by 2014. "Removing this provision is a betrayal of millions of low-income women, and it will place an even greater burden on state budgets that are already strained to the breaking point," Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards told supporters in an e-mail, noting that the option would save the federal government about $700 million over ten years.

"It is bewildering that he [Obama] sacrificed low-income women’s rights and health in a vain bid to woo antediluvian right-wing misogynist Republican ideologues who will never, ever vote his way," notes The Nation. 

If you feel strongly about this, pick up the phone and call the White House, your congressional representative or senator, and anyone else you can think of. Women should have every available tool at their disposal to make responsible choices when it comes to their reproductive health. But, you know, that’s just our opinion.