Republican Proposal Continues Assault on Women’s Health

Revives Failed Efforts to Bar Planned Parenthood from Participating in Federal Health Programs and Eliminates Funding for the Title X Family Planning Program

Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) today criticized Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives for releasing a FY 2012 Labor Health and Human Services appropriations package that puts politics over women’s health by reviving unprecedented proposals to take away preventive care from women, which were rightly rejected by the Senate only months ago.

“This budget not only guts effective programs that keep men, women and teens healthy, it will increase the economic and financial burden on families at a time when they are already struggling,” said Sarah Stoesz, PPMNS President and CEO.

PPMNS is a trusted nonprofit health care provider that provides professional, reliable and quality health care, including birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, annual exams, and STD testing and treatment to more than 60,000 women, men and teens across the region.

One in five American women has been to a Planned Parenthood health center at some point in her life. In addition, six in 10 women who receive care from a women’s health center like those operated by Planned Parenthood consider it to be their main source of health care. “Eliminating funding for the Title X family planning program and prohibiting Planned Parenthood from providing health care through federal programs will result in thousands of women in our region losing access to basic primary and preventive care,” said Stoesz.

The Republican House Labor HHS proposal would prohibit Planned Parenthood from providing primary and preventive care through public health programs; eliminate funding for the Title X National Family Planning program; and effectively prohibit insurance coverage of abortion in the new health exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.

The House Republican budget includes the following provisions aimed at preventing women’s access to health care. It:

• revives the failed attempt to prohibit Planned Parenthood from participating in federal programs like Medicaid to provide preventive health care, including birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, annual exams, and STD testing and treatment;

• eliminates funding for the Title X National Family Planning Program, which provides access to birth control, cancer screenings, and other family planning services to five million low-income women each year;

• revives the failed attempt to effectively ban insurance coverage of abortion in the new health exchanges under the Affordable Care Act — taking away a common health benefit that most private health plans currently offer;

• prevents the implementation of the groundbreaking health care reform law, including new benefits that include insurance coverage of women’s preventive services like mammograms, cancer screenings, and birth control, with no additional co-pays;

• cuts the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative by $64.79 million — from $ 104.79 million to $40 million — and stipulates that $20 million of that money must be used for grants to provide ineffective, abstinence-only education; and

• includes a sweeping new refusal provision that undermines patients’ access to quality health care.

“Americans have spoken – they desperately want and need Congress to focus on fixing our economy and creating jobs. Instead, House Republican leaders are continuing their campaign to take away preventive health care and affordable birth control from millions of women across the nation,” said Stoesz.