Why is planned parenthood federally funded

Besides abortions, what does Planned Parenthood do? Johnson said the organization will continue to fight the rule in court. She said the regulation will "reverberate across the country" and said the move amounted to an "attack on reproductive health care" by the Trump administration. The organization previously threatened to pull out of the federal family-planning Title X program rather than participate in the so-called "gag rule.

Read More. These providers also offer STI screening and treatment services, and other preventive care and for some women are the sole source of their medical care.

Medicaid, Title X, and other federal and government programs are critical sources of funding for these clinic-based providers. Poor women are more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy , have an abortion , contract a sexually transmitted infection STI and have less access to care than higher income women. Medicaid —Health coverage program that covers more than 70 million low-income individuals.

Operated jointly by federal and state governments, all beneficiaries have coverage for family planning services, and according to federal statute, may see the participating provider of their choice. Medicaid is the largest funding source for public family planning services. The program provides funds to approximately 4, clinics across the nation to support the delivery of family planning services to low-income individuals. All FQHCs provide some family planning care within their network.

Over the past three years, policy changes at the state and federal level in Medicaid and Title X have restricted providers from receiving federal and state funds if they provide abortion services in addition to family planning care.

This brief reviews the role of these public programs and providers in financing care and enabling access to family planning services. It also addresses the impact of actions taken by President Trump and Congress to block federal funds from Planned Parenthood and other entities that provide abortion.

Across the nation, the share of low-income reproductive-age women enrolled in Medicaid varies considerably by state. In , the most recent year in which national enrollment data is available, For these women, Medicaid provides comprehensive affordable coverage to help meet the full range of their health care needs, and guarantees that they will not have any out of pocket costs for family planning services and pregnancy-related care.

Most state Medicaid programs make the full range of FDA approved contraceptives available to women, and nearly all cover counseling on STIs and HIV as well as screening for cervical cancer. The program funds organizations in each state to distribute federal dollars to safety-net clinics to provide family planning services to low-income, uninsured, and underserved clients. In June of , approximately 4, clinics nationwide received Title X funding, including specialized family planning clinics such as Planned Parenthood centers, primary care providers such as federally qualified health centers FQHCs , and health departments, school-based, faith-based, and other private nonprofits Appendix Table 2.

Title X grantees must serve low-income populations at low or no cost, and have historically been required to provide clients with a broad range of contraceptive methods as recommended by the national Quality Family Planning Guidelines QFP , and ensure that the services are voluntary and confidential.

In addition to providing clinics with funds to cover the direct costs of family planning services and supplies such as contraceptives, Title X funds enable clinics to pay for patient and community education services about family planning and sexual health issues, as well as infrastructure expenses such as rent, utilities, information technology, and staff salaries.

Title X clinics are also eligible to obtain discounted prescription contraceptives and devices through the federal B program. No other federal program makes funds available to support clinic infrastructure needs specifically for family planning. See map. Finally, one state SD fails even to comply with the Hyde Amendment, instead providing coverage only for lifesaving abortions.

Additional provisions adopted by Congress may further burden access to abortion services for Medicaid recipients, even those in states with nondiscriminatory funding. The Balanced Budget Act of , for example, permits health maintenance organizations HMOs serving Medicaid recipients to refuse to cover counseling or referral for services, such as abortion, to which the HMO objects on moral or religious grounds.

As a result, even in states with nondiscriminatory funding, women seeking abortions may face obstacles in even finding a provider. By the early s, Congress had passed restrictions similar to the Hyde Amendment affecting programs on which an estimated twenty million women rely for their health care or insurance. In addition to poor women on Medicaid, those denied access to federally funded abortion include Native Americans, federal employees and their dependents, Peace Corps volunteers, low-income residents of Washington, DC, federal prisoners, military personnel and their dependents, and disabled women who rely on Medicare.

New health initiatives are likewise being burdened by the legacy of the Hyde Amendment. The Children's Health Insurance Program CHIP , a program providing expanded health insurance for children aged 19 or younger, includes a ban on the use of federal funds for abortions unless the pregnancy endangers the teenager's life or results from rape or incest.

Why is it important that Congress repeal the Hyde Amendment and other bans on abortion funding? The Hyde Amendment and other bans should be repealed because they are discriminatory and harm women's health. If a woman chooses to carry to term, Medicaid and other federal insurance programs offer her assistance for the necessary medical care. But if the same woman needs to end her pregnancy, Medicaid and other federal insurance programs will not provide coverage for her abortion, even if continuing the pregnancy will harm her health.

The government should not discriminate in this way. It should not use its dollars to intrude on a poor woman's decision whether to carry to term or to terminate her pregnancy and selectively withhold benefits because she seeks to exercise her right of reproductive choice in a manner the government disfavors. With these bans, the federal government turns its back on women who need abortions for their health. Women with cancer, diabetes, or heart conditions, or whose pregnancies otherwise threaten their health, are denied coverage for abortions.

Only if a woman would otherwise die, or if her pregnancy results from rape or incest, is an abortion covered. The bans thus put many women's health in jeopardy. Medicaid offers comprehensive reproductive health care, including family planning, prenatal care, and services related to childbirth. By singling out abortion for exclusion, politicians have attempted to impose their own choices on poor women.

How have women on Medicaid paid for abortions since the Hyde Amendment? Federal funding restrictions have left some women on Medicaid little choice but to use money they need for food, rent, clothing, or other necessities to pay for an abortion.

Some even resorted to pawning household goods to come up with the necessary cash. Other women have been forced to carry their pregnancies to term or to seek illegal abortions. Studies have shown that from 18 to 35 percent of Medicaid-eligible women who want abortions, but who live in states that do not provide funding for abortion, have been forced to carry their pregnancies to term. Because the costs associated with childbirth, neonatal and pediatric care greatly exceed the costs of abortion, public funding for abortion neither costs the taxpayer money nor drains resources from other services.