Over the years, national polls and fundraising records have shown that the public, including many corporations as well as individuals, overwhelmingly supports Planned Parenthood. Once again, however, this organization has been targeted by the Federal Government for defunding – this time through both the Congressional and the Senate versions of the GOP healthcare bills. In spite of Planned Parenthood’s large public support and visibility, many Americans, including some of our legislators, are ignorant about the significant role Planned Parenthood plays in the healthcare of millions of women across the country. Why does Planned Parenthood matter, and what does “defunding it” actually mean?
Let’s get the abortion issue out of the way for starters. Providing safe and legal abortions is a very small part (three percent) of Planned Parenthood services (New York Magazine, May 15-28). Furthermore, since the Hyde Amendment (passed in 1976), no Federal funds may be used for abortion services, except (as amended in 1994) to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. I realize that for some people, only zero percent and no exceptions would be “acceptable,” but let’s acknowledge this and move on to the vast majority (97 percent) of Planned Parenthood services.
Planned Parenthood’s primary goal is reducing the number of unintended pregnancies so that every baby born is a “wanted” child. So, naturally, sex education, family planning, and birth control are among its important services.
In addition, a large part of Planned Parenthood’s work, especially in underserved areas of the country, involves providing reproductive health services, lifesaving cancer screenings including mammograms, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and for women who have no other access to healthcare providers, basic preventive and primary healthcare, or “essential health services.”
At least 60 percent of Planned Parenthood patients are on Medicaid and rely on Planned Parenthood as their primary source of healthcare. In fact, Planned Parenthood is the only healthcare provider available to low-income families in over 20 percent of the countries in which it operates. (Planned Parenthood website) This is particularly the case in many rural areas across the South and the Midwest. Contrary to what U.S. Congressman Scott Perry asserted at his Red Lion Town Hall Meeting last February, these mostly poor women cannot simply hop down the road to another clinic or nearby town, because there aren’t any other options within reach.
Nationwide, approximately 2.5 million people rely on Planned Parenthood for essential health services. This number includes 90,000 Pennsylvania residents who utilize the 31 Planned Parenthood health centers in our state for their healthcare. Due to these numbers, and recognizing the high quality of healthcare that Planned Parenthood provides, a bipartisan group of 106 mayors from 28 states, including 17 from Pennsylvania, sent a letter to Congressional leaders in May of this year, urging them to oppose efforts to “defund” Planned Parenthood and to protect access to healthcare for the more than 30 million people they collectively represent. The letter noted that more than half of all Planned Parenthood health centers are located in rural or “underserved patient communities,” which means they are in areas that have been identified by the Federal Government as having an insufficient number of federal or state-supported providers. In addition to large rural areas, many minority communities are among those designated as “underserved” in our state. (PennLive May 10, 2017)
The oft-talked-about “defunding” of Planned Parenthood by the Federal Government is something of a misnomer, and here is where other misunderstanding about the organization arises. There is no line item in the federal budget for Planned Parenthood that can be eliminated. While about 43 percent of Planned Parenthood’s revenue does come from the government, most of this is from Medicaid reimbursements for preventive care. Planned Parenthood also receives federal funds through Title X for delivering services to 1.5 million of the 4 million women who qualify for Title X’s national family planning program each year.
What “defunding” really means, then, is blocking patients who rely on public healthcare programs from getting their care at Planned Parenthood centers.
For reproductive healthcare, the situation is particularly grim. Annually, Planned Parenthood health centers provide birth control for about 2 million people and perform more than 4 million STD tests (with follow up treatment), 360,000 breast exams, and 270,000 Pap tests. Other ob-gyn providers who accept Medicaid are in short supply and cannot pick up the slack if Medicaid patients are blocked from using Planned Parenthood. In addition, Planned Parenthood centers provide the full range of birth control (including IUDs and implants) on-site and more likely to offer rapid-result HIV testing compared to other clinics with family planning services.
Currently Planned Parenthood operates 650 health centers nationwide. Led by Vice President Mike Pence, extremist GOP politicians’ real goal is to shut down Planned Parenthood health centers across the country. If these politicians succeed, it will be a national health disaster, severely limiting the choices for the poor and most vulnerable, and risking not only their wellbeing but also their very lives.
Jeanne Duffy, Ph.D., has served as a college professor, an analyst and project manager for several large companies, and a college administrator in charge of foundation and government support. She is current chair of the Democracy for America healthcare taskforce.