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Hysteria Over Federal Response To Indiana Defunding Planned Parenthood

Posted by: Linda Carbonell on May 25, 2011.

05-25-2011 by Linda S. Carbonell

Planned Parenthood Rally

Here are the facts: Planned Parenthood is a federally approved Medicaid provider of family planning and women’s health services. States do not have the right to determine who can and cannot provide Medicaid services because it is a federally funded program. States forfeit federal funding when they decide they will no longer provide federally approved services or providers. Over 22,000 Indiana women use Planned Parenthood for family planning services and health care. Planned Parenthood, using private donations, supports abortion clinics for abortions that are performed early in a pregnancy and do not require hospital care. Indiana was informed that if it defunded Planned Parenthood, denied it funds that given to it by the Federal Medicaid program, it would lose those funds. Arizona received a similar warning when it decided to forfeit $2 million in Medicaid funding to “save” $1 million by denying transplants to Medicaid recipients.

The Indiana legislature’s desire is to shut down all Planned Parenthood facilities and/or deny access to them for women who are on Medicaid is because of the lie that Planned Parenthood uses tax money to fund their “abortion mills.” Less than 3% of Planned Parenthood’s services involve assisting women to receive abortions from facilities that are not funded with taxpayer money. The Indiana bill was sold as a “defunding” of Planned Parenthood, though the language of the bill is ambiguous on the matter. In addition to cutting off Planned Parenthood, the bill would cut off services by any ob-gyn who ever preformed an abortion for any reason. Planned Parenthood has been scrupulous in its separation of funding and provided ample proof of it for federal regulators. Use of federal funds for abortions is illegal.

Those are the facts. This is the way Fox News decided to report those facts on its website. They posted the following by Peter J. Smith from LifeSiteNews.com:

“The Obama administration is not happy with Indiana for being the first state to defund Planned Parenthood. According to reports, the adminsitration is considering taking away the state’s Medicaid money in retaliation.

Pro-life Gov. Mitch Daniels recently signed into law a measure that bars state agencies from entering into contracts with abortion providers, aside from hospitals. The law also bans abortion past 20 weeks gestation, with an exception for the life or physical health of the mother.

The law effectively cuts Planned Parenthood off from approximately $3 million in state family planning funds, unless the state organization divides into separate independent affiliates that have nothing to do financially with abortion-providing affiliates.

The New York Times reports that federal officials are considering withholding some or all of the state’s Medicaid money in order to pressure the state to allow the nation’s largest abortion provider to tap into family planning funds.”

In the comments that followed this “report” the standard response is “these women can go to county clinics for these services.” First of all, if free county clinics or even clinics that accepted Medicaid were readily available, we would not have watched last year as thousands of Americans were treated in the free clinics that were organized in several cities and funded through donations solicited by the hosts of MSNBC and NBC. So-called charity hospitals are grossly underfunded and in danger of being closed across the country. Second, ever been to a county free clinic? I have, about 25 years ago. My younger daughter had pnuemonia. We sat for six hours in a cavernous waiting room. They closed before they reached my number. The site was clear across the county and I had to use a bus to get us there. My daughter wasn’t responding to aspirin to control her fever. I lost two days wages at my part-time job just to get my daughter an antibiotic and prescription expectorant. Twenty-five years ago it was that bad getting health care if you didn’t have money. It hasn’t gotten any better.

So, are there any pro-lifers in Indiana who want to provide 22,000 women with directions to health care facilities that have appointments so those women don’t have to lose wages? Anyone one to make sure they have transportation to those less-accessible facilities? Any pro-life health professionals volunteering their services to boost the personnel in these facilities?

Breaking the provisions of a legally created program has consequences. Indiana knew it in advance. It’s not “punishment” for “defying” the administration. It’s part of the contract the state entered into to participate in Medicaid. It was the state legislature’s choice.