What It Means to Defund Planned Parenthood
On March 6, House Republicans proposed legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. It contained language that would defund Planned Parenthood—that is, end the provider’s reimbursements through Medicaid—for one year. The House abandoned that legislation on Friday. But this July, it’s possible that a small-scale version of that defunding will happen in Iowa, where Republicans are pushing for a repeal-and-replace of their own: They want to scrap the state’s family-planning program and redraft it to exclude Planned Parenthood from the list of eligible providers.
The argument for this in Iowa is the same as it was in Texas when the state passed similar legislation in 2013—and it’s the the same in most states where moves have been made to block the organization from funds: Lawmakers want to prevent state dollars from going to providers that facilitate abortions, and they say Planned Parenthood patients can instead receive family-planning care, like contraception and pelvic exams, at community-health clinics.
There are currently 12 Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa, and the legislation stands to affect nearly 4,000 Planned Parenthood patients in the state who will have to go elsewhere for their family-planning needs. The question is: Can those patients get equal health-care elsewhere?
In Iowa, the answer—like the debate itself—is complicated. Some clinics simply aren’t capable of providing that care. The ones that can will require significant coordination and investment to serve these women. And despite their eagerness to defund Planned Parenthood, the lawmakers pushing the legislation seem to
