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Proposed federal cuts threaten Planned Parenthood

Officials disagree whether patients with low incomes in Clark County would go without various services

By Marissa Harshman, Columbian Health Reporter
Published: April 7, 2011, 12:00am

140,000: The number of women and men Planned Parenthood serves in Washington.

16: The number of Washington counties, including Clark, where Planned Parenthood is the only low-income family planning provider.

7,600: The number of visits to the Planned Parenthood Vancouver Center in 2010.

2,300: The number of visits to the Planned Parenthood Salmon Creek Center in 2010.

95: The percentage of Planned Parenthood patients in the Portland-Vancouver area who receive basic preventative care from the 10 centers.

5: The percentage of Planned Parenthood patients in the Portland-Vancouver area who receive abortion services from the 10 centers.

39,010: The number of breast cancer screenings Planned Parenthood provides in Washington annually.

140,000: The number of women and men Planned Parenthood serves in Washington.

16: The number of Washington counties, including Clark, where Planned Parenthood is the only low-income family planning provider.

7,600: The number of visits to the Planned Parenthood Vancouver Center in 2010.

2,300: The number of visits to the Planned Parenthood Salmon Creek Center in 2010.

95: The percentage of Planned Parenthood patients in the Portland-Vancouver area who receive basic preventative care from the 10 centers.

5: The percentage of Planned Parenthood patients in the Portland-Vancouver area who receive abortion services from the 10 centers.

39,010: The number of breast cancer screenings Planned Parenthood provides in Washington annually.

Clark County’s only low-income family planning provider could be in jeopardy if members of Congress succeed in stripping federal funding from Planned Parenthood and other clinics.

Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette operates two clinics in Clark County — one in Orchards, the other in Salmon Creek. The two clinics are the only ones in the county to offer family planning services through the federal Title X program, a grant program that provides comprehensive family planning to low-income families.

Clark County Public Health no longer provides birth control services, leaving Planned Parenthood to fill the void.

Funding for the Title X Family Planning Program and for Planned Parenthood, specifically, could be on the chopping block as members of Congress struggle to pass a spending bill to keep the federal government operating through the remainder of the fiscal year.

The House of Representatives proposed a 2011 spending bill that would eliminate Title X funding. In the 2010 fiscal year, Congress appropriated about $317 million for Title X family planning services, according to the Office of Population Affairs, which administers the program.

An amendment to the 2011 spending bill, proposed by Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., would ban Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds, including Medicaid. The House approved the Pence Amendment in February.

“The vote from the House of Representatives with these potential cuts represents a pretty extreme political agenda from the Republican leadership, which is very out of step with what mainstream America supports,” said Liz Delapoer, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette. “It does nothing to reduce the deficit, nothing to improve the economy, nothing to provide jobs. In fact, it will eliminate jobs and take health care away from women who can’t afford it.”

Delapoer said it is unknown whether Planned Parenthood would have to close clinics if it lost federal funding. But what is known, she said, is the burden of paying for services that were once free or low-cost would shift to the patients.

Last year, 72 percent of women in Washington who were served through Title X funds received their care from Planned Parenthood.

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, voted in favor of the Pence Amendment. She told The Columbian last month that prior to voting to defund Planned Parenthood, she checked to make sure women in Clark County would still have access to services.

“Access to health care is a priority for me,” she said at the time. “I wanted to make sure health screenings, mammograms, those services are available at clinics that don’t provide abortions. That was important to me.”

Pence proposed the amendment because he opposes the federal government providing funding to clinics that provide abortions, according to a statement on his website.

“I believe that ending an innocent human life is morally wrong,” Pence said. “I also believe it is morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to fund organizations that provide and promote abortions, like Planned Parenthood of America.”

Federal law already prohibits Planned Parenthood, and any Title X funding recipient, from using Title X funding to pay for abortions. Women who receive abortions from Planned Parenthood pay for the service out of pocket or through private insurance, Delapoer said.

But Pence argues that while federal funding may not directly fund abortions, the money subsidizes Planned Parenthood’s overall operations, “freeing up funds that can be diverted to direct spending on abortion.”

At the 10 Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette clinics in the Portland-Vancouver area, less than 5 percent of patient visits are for abortion services, Delapoer said. The remaining 95 percent of visits are for preventive care, she said.

Title X and other federal funding is used to provide affordable preventive care. Those services include annual wellness exams, pap tests, breast and cervical cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, HIV testing and birth control.

Last year, the Planned Parenthood Vancouver Center in Orchards had 7,600 appointments. The Salmon Creek center had 2,300 appointments.

Pence argues that if his amendment passes, Title X funding taken away from Planned Parenthood would be diverted to other clinics to provide health care to low-income women and families.

Elsewhere in Washington, Title X funds go to health department clinics, community health centers and other independent clinics in addition to Planned Parenthood clinics.

But in Clark County, Planned Parenthood is the only recipient of Title X money, according to the Office of Population Affairs.

Nearly 75 percent of Planned Parenthood patients rely on some type of federal funding, such as Medicaid or waivers. If Planned Parenthood loses federal funding, millions across the country and thousands locally will go without preventive care, Delapoer said.

“Nationwide, Planned Parenthood serves more than 3 million Americans, and if this funding is taken away, there is no backup plan for where those 3 million Americans will get care,” she said. “In Clark County, that’s really hard. For many of our patients, we are the only health care providers they are seeing every year or at all.”

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.

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Columbian Health Reporter