Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Denver, CO – Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains strongly opposes the just released Senate version of the American Health Care Act. 

Vicki Cowart, President and CEO of PPRM: “The Senate's version of the American Health Care Act is frustrating and disappointing. Rather than improving the detrimental House bill, they've kept provisions that will block more than 30,000 women, men and young people in the Rocky Mountain region alone from accessing the trusted reproductive health care they rely on. We will not stand by while politicians play these types of political games with the health care and livelihood of more than one third our patients."

This bill is the worst bill for women in a generation. In addition to “defunding” Planned Parenthood and slashing Medicaid, it guts Essential Health Benefit protections, including maternity coverage and prescription drugs. Thirteen million women across the nation could lose coverage to maternity care under this bill. This bill would disproportionately impact women who already face unfair barriers to care, including low-income women and women of color. 

Experts agree the “defund” Planned Parenthood provision is a violation of the Byrd Rule because it is politically motivated policy, similar to the tax credit provision related to abortion. It has no place on reconciliation because it violates these rules, and it has no place on any legislation because it is the epitome of a mean-spirited policy that hurts millions of women. 

CNN reported: “Many aides believe the Senate Parliamentarian will strike this provision down on Byrd Rule grounds.”

Now is the time for every person who cares about women’s health and access to affordable quality care to speak out and join this fight. It’s clear that the American people strongly oppose blocking women from going to Planned Parenthood for preventive care. We must get louder than ever so our elected officials finally start listening to us. 

Planned Parenthood grassroots organizing has been a driving force in opposing Trumpcare and efforts to “defund” Planned Parenthood. For months, an army of pink Planned Parenthood patients, supporters, and advocates have held protest rallies, spoken out at Congressional town halls, called their members of Congress, delivered petitions to Congressional offices, and hosted field hearings. 

Over the last several months, Planned Parenthood supporters across the country have: 

  • made more than 157,429 phone calls to members of Congress
  • organized more than 2,200 events across the country, including rallies, petition drops, phone banks, and marches
  • delivered close to 1 million petitions to members of Congress in opposition to  “defunding” Planned Parenthood.          

Like the House bill, the Senate bill was largely negotiated by men behind closed doors, so it is not surprising that it closely mirrors the House version of the American Health Care Act, and would: 

  • Take away health insurance from millions of people and make it less affordable for those who will still have insurance. 
  • “Defund” Planned Parenthood by blocking people with Medicaid coverage from accessing preventive care at Planned Parenthood health centers — including birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment.
  • Cut Essential Health Benefits protections, including maternity coverage and prescription drugs, which disproportionately affect women. Thirteen million womencould lose coverage to maternity care under this bill. 
  • Gut the Medicaid program, which approximately 1 in 5 women of reproductive age rely on to access no-cost, critical reproductive health care such as birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, and maternity care.  
  • Reduce access to no-cost preventive services, including birth control.
  • Impose a nationwide ban on private insurance coverage of abortion.

 

Blocking people’s access to Planned Parenthood is deeply unpopular with both health care experts and Americans.  

 

Blocking people’s access to Planned Parenthood would have a devastating impact on people’s health.

  • If enacted, prohibiting individuals from accessing preventive care at Planned Parenthood health centers would have a devastating impact on the 2.4 million people who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for essential health services.
  • In March, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the “defund” Planned Parenthood provision would result in reduced access to care for patients who live in areas where Planned Parenthood is the only health care option and where Planned Parenthood serves low-income populations. More than half of Planned Parenthood health centers are in health professional shortage areas, rural or medically underserved areas. Experts have repeatedly said that other providers cannot absorb Planned Parenthood’s patients. 
  • The term “defunding” Planned Parenthood is a misnomer. Planned Parenthood does not get a blank check from the federal government, and it’s not a line item in the federal budget. Planned Parenthood receives reimbursements, just like hospitals and other health care organizations, for providing preventive care. Federal law already blocks federal funding from going to abortion services.

We and our third partners use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

We, and our third-party partners, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of required cookies when utilizing our site; this includes necessary cookies that help our site to function (such as remembering your cookie preference settings). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

User Feedback and Session Replay

On

We use qualitative data from LogRocket, UserZoom, Hotjar and AB Tasty to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services. LogRocket allows us to view session replays.