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Governor Mitch Daniels is signaling his willingness to potentially be considered as a GOP candidate for higher office in 2012 by rejecting his own proclaimed “social issues truce” and signing a bill that will deny the state $4 million in health care funds for lower income residents. The Indiana Republican claims the cut off is necessary to stop funding abortions, but many of the clinics being effected don’t even perform the procedure.

The Journal Gazette writes:

A bill approved by the legislature that would eliminate funds for Planned Parenthood in Indiana would affect services provided by the group’s clinics and programs.

In northeast Indiana, Planned Parenthood served more than 5,300 patients last year – and performed zero abortions.

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Planned Parenthood has clinics in Elkhart and Fort Wayne, both of which see patients from surrounding counties as well.

Neither provides abortion services. Most years, those clinics combined provide more than 4,000 pap smears for area women – of which about one in 10 are severely abnormal, according to the organization.

A more urban area such as Fort Wayne may be able to provide low-cost alternatives to those screenings, [Betty Cockrum, Planned Parenthood of Indiana president and CEO,] said, but some women may forgo them altogether.

The majority of the patients served at the Fort Wayne and Elkhart clinics are women, and the majority are in poverty, according to the organization.