Facts on Planned Parenthood Defunding:
1. What does defunding Planned Parenthood mean?
Defunding Planned Parenthood does not mean what it sounds like. Planned Parenthood does not
receive a blank check from the federal or state government. Defunding refers to stopping Planned
Parenthood from being able to be reimbursed for providing services to people who rely on
Medicaid insurance or who are eligible for free or reduced fee services through the Title X
program.
Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania (PPWP) would lose an estimated $650,000 annually
if excluded from Medicaid Insurance and the impact of losing Title X funding would be an
estimated $750,000 annually. This is nearly 30% of our annual budget. Title X and Medicaid
insurance are only used to pay for family planning services such as preventive exams, screening
services and birth control. A federal law, the Hyde Amendment, is already in place to block
federal funding from going to abortion services and PPWP is audited annually to verify our
compliance.
2. What does Title X have to do with defunding?
Title X is the only federal program that is specifically dedicated to providing individuals with
comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services. Title X is legally designed
to prioritize the needs of low-income families and uninsured people (including those who are not
eligible for Medicaid) who might not otherwise have access to these health care services.
Nationally, Planned Parenthood serves around 1.5 million people through Title X. Cutting Planned
Parenthood out of this program drastically reduces service delivery to low income people.
Planned Parenthood health centers serve 41% of this program’s patients - the most of any TItle X
provider (comparatively, public health departments serve 28% of all contraceptive patients,
community health centers serve 19% of all contraceptive patients, and hospital outpatient sites
serve 5% of all contraceptive patients).
3. Does family planning save tax dollars?
Every $1 invested in public family planning funding saves taxpayers $7 in Medicaid costs. This
funding saves federal and state governments $13.6 billion annually. The Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) also says that this could cause a net cost of $130 million to taxpayers over 10 years
because of an increase in unintended pregnancies. Planned Parenthood health centers prevent an
estimated 579,000 unintended pregnancies every year.
4. Don’t most people want Planned Parenthood defunded?
A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll revealed that 75% of Americans, including a majority of
Republican women and men, support federal Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood.
Beyond this, 70% of Americans say they believe a woman should have the right to safe, legal
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abortion. Further, a majority of Americans support Planned Parenthood. According to a recent
FOX News poll, 57% of FOX News respondents view Planned Parenthood favorably. This shows
support for Planned Parenthood and it’s services are at the highest it’s ever been.
5. What is happening in Pennsylvania regarding defunding Planned Parenthood?
While Governor Wolf has publicly supported Planned Parenthood, Pennsylvania’s state legislators
are attempting to defund Planned Parenthood. Currently, Pennsylvania Senate Bill 300 would
change Pennsylvania’s fiscal code so health centers that provide abortions would not be able to
receive reimbursement through federal and state family planning funds. This is a back-door way to
stop Planned Parenthood from serving low-income Pennsylvanians.
6. What impact does state and federal defunding have on the women and men of
Pennsylvania?
Just in Pennsylvania alone, 90,000 women, men and young people rely on Planned Parenthood
for affordable healthcare every year. When Planned Parenthood is defunded the health men,
women, young adults and our overall community suffers.
Reduced access to birth control will cause more unintended pregnancies and abortions.
Reduced access to Pap Smears and well woman gynecological care will increase the risk of
cancer, result in delayed treatment and overall poorer health outcomes for women.
Reduced access to screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections will lead to higher
infection rates and increased rates of cancer and infertility.
7. What happened when other states defunded Planned Parenthood?
We know from state defunding attacks around the country what happens when PP is defunded:
● Researchers found a dramatic 27% spike in births to women formerly using an injectable
contraception and pregnancy-related deaths doubled when Texas eliminated Planned
Parenthood from its state family planning program.
● Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections increased significantly and former patients faced
long wait times to see a doctor at a community health clinic when the Shawano County,
Wisconsin Planned Parenthood health center closed after state funding cuts.
● A rural county in Indiana is dealing with an unprecedented HIV outbreak after funding
cuts forced Planned Parenthood to close a health center that was the only provider of HIV
testing and counseling in that community.
8. Can’t people go somewhere else for services?
The idea that other providers could absorb Planned Parenthood’s patients has been resoundingly
dismissed by experts.
[1]
In fact, Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American
Public Health Association, called the idea “ludicrous.
” [2]
Sara Rosenbaum, a noted Community
Health Center expert, added that “the assertion that community health centers could step into a
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breach of this magnitude is simply wrong and displays a fundamental misunderstanding of how the
health care system works.”
[3]
In Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood health centers served nearly 1 in 3 patients seeking family
planning services at publicly funded providers in 2015, despite being outnumbered 5 to 1 by
FQHCs.
Although Planned Parenthood health centers comprise 6% of all safety net providers of family
planning care nationwide, they serve 32% of all clients who obtain care from such providers.
9. What makes Planned Parenthood different from other healthcare providers?
Planned Parenthood health centers go above and beyond to provide convenient and
comprehensive care. Planned Parenthood leads the country with up-to-date medical standards and
guidelines for reproductive health care. Most of Planned Parenthood’s health centers offer
extended hours, same-day appointments, and have shorter wait times for an initial visit when
compared to all other types of publicly-funded health care providers. Planned Parenthood health
centers are the most likely to supply at least a six-month pill supply, at least 10 reversible
contraceptive methods on-site, use rapid-result testing for HIV, and offer IUDs and implants,
according to a survey of providers offering publicly funded family planning care.
10. So, why doesn’t Planned Parenthood stop providing abortions?
It is Planned Parenthood’s mission to ensure that women have access to the full range of
reproductive health care. For 100 years Planned Parenthood, has worked to build a world where all
people have access to the care they need and all people have full control of their own bodies and
can determine their own destinies. Providing critical health care services for millions of American
women is core to our mission and it is not negotiable.
[1]
Frost, J.J. & Hasstedt, K. (September 8, 2015). Quantifying Planned Parenthood’s Critical Role in Meeting the
Need for Publicly Supported Contraceptive Care.
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2015/09/08/quantifying-planned-parenthoods-critical-role-in-meeting-the-need-for
-publicly-supported-contraceptive-care/
[2]
Szabo, L. & Ungar, L. (July 30, 2015). Family Planning Budgets in Crisis Before Planned Parenthood
Controversy.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/30/family-planning-budgets-crisis-before-planned-parenthood-
controversy/30861853/
[3]
Rosenbaum, Sara. (September 2,2015). Planned Parenthood, Community Health Centers, and Women’s
Health: Getting the Facts Right.
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2015/09/02/planned-parenthood-community-health- centers-and- womens-health-
getting-the- facts-right/
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