Planning must be a priority
May 5th, 2002
Last week, the Michigan Senate joined in a national trend to undermine abortion and women's health services through the promotion of programs ostensibly aimed at strengthening families, but that in actuality limit women's access to abortion. The latest incarnation of this thinking can be found in Michigan HB 4655. The bill gives priority funding consideration to family planning clinics that do not perform abortions or refer women to abortion providers.
While the bill is an appeal to abortion foes, the ramifications of HB 4655 will be most pronounced in the sphere of women's health. The misguided bill threatens to intrude upon public health issues that should be left to medical specialists. The bill, directed at Planned Parenthood and other state clinics, will harm low-income women without medical insurance who use the clinics as their primary care providers. Another group that will suffer are students who cannot afford or cannot ask their parents to pay for reproductive health services. The bill requires that the Department of Community Health follow the new standards when it allocates state tax dollars earmarked for family planning.
Clinics that either offer abortions or information about abortions will lose future funding to their counterparts who do not provide these services. Since clinics are already barred from using state or federal funds for abortions, the measure will force Planned Parenthood, which serves over 89,000 patients in its 31 Michigan clinics, to eliminate its other subsidized healthcare services.
Subsidized services provide low-income families with access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, pregnancy counseling, contraceptive programs and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Planned Parenthood employs a "sliding-scale" fee system that allows patients to pay a fee corresponding to their income level. This system which ensures equitable coverage for women of varying incomes could be eliminated.
Robyn Menin, president of Planned Parenthood Mid-Michigan Alliance in Ann Arbor says, that along with these limitations in services, the funding cuts would likely stall plans for the construction of a new Ann Arbor clinic. An additional clinic would ease the space crunch at the current clinic that served nearly 12,000 people last year - many of whom are students.
University Health Services provides students with the services that these clinics offer, such as contraceptives and birth control. However, students are often required to notify their parents when they seek these services through their parents' health insurance provider. When students feel uncomfortable or are unable to ask their parents for help, local clinics like Planned Parenthood provide a crucial service. Without the subsidized services of organizations like Planned Parenthood, students unable to seek their parents' assistance will likely find it more difficult to obtain affordable and reliable birth control discretely.
Moreover, Planned Parenthood provides abortions, which serve as a necessary and protected reproductive option for University women. With less money for clinics that provide abortions, students seeking safe, affordable and confidential abortions will find their options limited.
Since state-subsidized abortion is already illegal, directing money away from clinics that perform or support abortions simply diverts money away from other important services for pregnant women and punishes clinics for offering the services that their patients desperately need.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:08:29 -0500