Perry's Pages Overwhelmed With Women's Health Questions
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Rick Perry may be governor of Texas, but he's 'Doctor Perry' to thousands of angry women on Facebook, facetiously seeking 'advice' on women's health issues.
Questions are about everything menstruation to menopause and anything in between.
Cait Webb wrote, "Dear Governor Perry: My period is three days late. I was a sinner and got my tubes tied over a year ago. Should I be concerned? Or should I just wear white and hope for the best?"
The questions are interspersed among comments on the Perry for President page.
The questions overwhelmed the Give Rick a Chance page.
Though the Give Rick a Chance page seems to have been started during the Governor's run for the presidency and in preparation for the South Carolina Primary, sarcastic health care questions and comments are still being posted.
The comments follow the Governor's role in cutting millions in federal Medicaid funding for
the Texas Women's Health Program so the money won't go to Planned Parenthood Clinics.
Planned Parenthood funds abortions, but federal dollars never went to clinics that performed them.
Women were upset that hundreds of thousands of low-income Texas women will be left without access to women's healthcare.
Responding to the Facebook campaign, Kelly Hart with Planned Parenthood of North Texas said, "It will be hard to revitalize this successful program, but women's health supporters are sending a clear message that they are going to try."
"They're just trying to alert the public about their concerns, and Facebook is an excellent way to do that," said SMU student Olivia Book.
As for the facetious nature of the posts, Book said, "You're going to get so many 'likes' if your comment is more facetious and entertaining. If you post something and people think it's funny or people like it, then it's going to show up on a news feed and it will merit more attention," she added.
So it appears with Facebook, sarcasm will get you everywhere.
Governor Perry was not without his supporters. But they appear far outnumbered by detractors in this latest campaign.
In response to the Facebook posts, Governor Perry's spokesperson Catherine Frazier said:
"These are not just sarcastic comments, they are inappropriate and do nothing to advance the important discussion about issues surrounding the Women's Health Program. It's clear many of these individuals are basing their opinions on something other than the facts - Gov. Perry is proud of his efforts to keep this program going with or without the federal government, and will continue to fight for our state's fair share of the federal tax dollars that have funded WHP."
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