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Rally draws attention to Title X funding
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April snow fell on hand-painted poster board signs bearing
slogans such as “reproductive health care is basic health
care” and “family planning prevents
abortion.”
On the Statehouse steps, four protesters stood holding a chain
of gender signs, and the Planned Parenthood of Idaho rally grew
from just ten people to nearly 200 within minutes.
The rally was an effort by the reproductive health care entity
to retain Title X funding. Their right to the federal grant, which
provided the organization with $136,000 this year, has recently
come under fire by Rep. Bill Sali, Sen. Skip Brandt and David
Ripley of the right-to-life group, Idaho Chooses Life.
A new resolution, designed to change the intent language for
Title X funding in Idaho, would remove the funding from Planned
Parenthood and transfer the available monies to the district health
departments.
Sen. Brandt, chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare
Committee, said in the tight economy, he doesn’t feel the
money should go to pay for duplication of services.
“My whole viewpoint is that we are distributing money to
two separate entities to provide the same services. By dividing the
money, part of it ends up going for additional administrative
costs, a building and heating. If this legislation went through,
the money could be funneled into the health district. That would
eliminate duplication of services and allow the health districts to
remain open on evenings and weekends,” he said.
Linda Knopp, supervisor of family planning services, said
duplication of services is necessary under the Title X
requirements.
“The federal grant specifies which services need to be
made available. These include sliding scale payment options for the
poor and reproductive health services for men and women,” she
said.
Knopp conceded that PPI is open more hours than the health
departments, and provides more educational services, but said those
services could be provided if requested. She said, should PPI lose
the grant money, it would free them to charge slightly more for
their services and offer a different range of services without the
constrictions the Title X language puts into play.
The speakers at the rally made different assertions. According
to Ellie Merrick, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood
of Idaho, the clinics treated more than 7,000 people last year for
reproductive health concerns. Over half of those clients had their
care either partially or fully paid by Title X money. Planned
Parenthood has been providing family planning services in Idaho for
30 years.
“They disagree with Planned Parenthood’s belief that
all Idahoans should have access to reproductive choice,” she
said.
“Their duplication of services argument implies that there
is just too much family planning going on in Idaho. We all know
that if that were true, we would have a hundred percent early
detection rate for breast and cervical cancer, zero unintended
pregnancies and no abortions.”
Cara Walker, director of development for PPI, emphasized no
state money goes into the Title X funding and PPI is otherwise
privately funded by donations and other outside sources.
“Pure and simple, this is a political attack on a single
organization. It is being pushed by a small group who does not
believe in birth control, reproductive health care or women’s
health,” she said.
Elizabeth Puckett, The Arbiter
