Understanding Planned Parenthood and Federal Funding
By: Susan Sawyer O’Keefe
Every election year the debate surrounding federal funding for Planned Parenthood as well as access to reproductive healthcare and abortions is exacerbated and politicized. Along with the movement calling to “defund” Planned Parenthood, anti-abortion groups have spread a great deal of misinformation about the services that Planned Parenthood provides to over 3 million men and women each year. While it’s disappointing that the work of such an important organization is up for political debate, this is the given reality. Correcting misinformation and understanding the healthcare problems our society is facing is key to having these conversations successfully, and making social progress.
What does Planned Parenthood do?
Planned Parenthood, founded in 1916, is a healthcare provider with over 600 centers that provide a range of reliable reproductive health care, sex education, and resources to millions of Americans. Each center is unique and the services they provide vary depending on the needs of the community it serves. Most commonly associated with providing abortions, these centers also provide general health care, birth control, emergency contraception, HIV services, LGBT services, Men’s Health Services, Patient Education, Pregnancy Testing and Services, STD Testing and Treatment, and general Women’s Services.
Does the Government Fund Planned Parenthood?
Short answer: yes, but not like many may think. Planned Parenthood isn’t funded by a specific line-item in the federal budget. Instead Planned Parenthood, like any other health care provider, gets reimbursed for delivering care. About a third of their revenue comes from government health services reimbursements and grants, mostly patients’ Medicaid coverage and then a smaller fraction from Title X grants.
Misconceptions with calls to “Defund” Planned Parenthood
Defunding Planned Parenthood doesn’t stop federal tax money from paying for abortions. The Hyde Amendment (passed in 1976) already blocks federal Medicaid funding for abortion services. Rather, defunding would prevent low-income individuals who rely on Medicaid or who are eligible for services through the Title X program from accessing care at Planned Parenthood health centers. This move would disproportionately cut off care for a population that already faces structural inequalities, with people of color compromising the majority of Medicaid enrollees.
For many Americans Planned Parenthood is the only place they can go for care. Experts have demonstrated that community health centers don’t have the capacity to absorb Planned Parenthood patients. More than half of Planned Parenthood’s health centers are in rural and underserved communities, nearly half of patients are people of color. Planned Parenthood clinics also prioritize accessibility in their care by offering evening or weekend hours at a higher rate than other health centers which helps people working low-income hourly jobs receive care. Until the American healthcare system can step up and provide adequate reproductive and sexual health services to the people who need them most, the argument to defund Planned Parenthood must be recognized for what it is: a classist and unrealistic attack on access to a variety of essential health services.
For more information about Planned Parenthood visit https://www.plannedparenthood.org/.
Durham’s Planned Parenthood Health Center:
105 Newsom Street, Ste. 101
Durham, NC 27704
919-286-2872
Parenthood P. Our Services: Affordable Healthcare & Sex Education. Planned Parenthood. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/get-care/our-services. Accessed January 20, 2021.
No, Community Health Centers Cannot Absorb Planned Parenthood Patients. I Stand with Planned Parenthood. https://www.istandwithpp.org/defund-defined/no-community-health-centers-cannot-absorb-planned-parenthood-pat. Accessed January 20, 2021.
5 Biggest Myths About Planned Parenthood. I Stand with Planned Parenthood. https://www.istandwithpp.org/defund-defined/5-biggest-myths-about-planned-parenthood. Accessed January 20, 2021.