Essential health services offered at Planned Parenthood clinics. Shutdown of these clinics leaves numerous women without alternative care options.
Unfiltered, Uninhibited Take:
When Donald Trump's administration decided to knotch ’em up for Planned Parenthood clinics, Michigan wasn't exactly thrilled. With 14 clinics serving a colossal horde of women, the beleaguered state was already brainstorming ways to stave off financial calamity.
"The leadership team and our board had been running scenarios like a goddamn marathon to figure out how to keep those bills paid," grumbled Ashlea Phenicie, Planned Parenthood of Michigan's Chief External Affairs Officer.
If Michigan was gonna save its busier clinics, or the rare ones in areas where ladies had scant options, it was gonna have to kiss some clinics goodbye. Yes, even the one in the Upper Peninsula, a godforsaken hinterland surrounded by another dang lake. In Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, the city's two clinics were gonna merge.
This shit's happening everywhere, dawg. At least freakin' 20 Planned Parenthood clinics have shut down or are about to, following the same ugly trends bankrupting health providers across the land.
For decades, Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit servicing over 2 million patients annually (a huge chunk of them uninsured or on Medicaid), has battled the same money troubles plaguing healthcare providers nationwide. Low insurance reimbursement rates, thwarted Medicaid expansion, understaffing, and rising medical costs have been forcing hospitals and health clinics to fold, left and right[2][6].
But unlike other providers, Planned Parenthood has also suffered from direct and pointed funding cuts, initially under Trump's first administration.
"What's different this time is that it's way more harsh," said Farzana Kapadia, an epidemiology and population health professor at New York University's School of Global Public Health. "It's a broader, deeper cut affecting more clinics and more folks."
Beginning in March, the Trump administration froze funding by booting Planned Parenthood clinics from the Title X family planning program, a federal grant program funding family planning and reproductive health care. Come late May, House Republicans added another gut punch, shooting down funding for Planned Parenthood as part of the reconciliation bill[7].
Could it get any bleaker? Ya betcha. If this bill gets the green light in the Senate, it'll block Planned Parenthood clinics from Billing Medicaid for ANY health services at all—including cancer screenings, wellness exams, and birth control. It's unclear if the new legislation will apply clinic-by-clinic or to Planned Parenthood as a national entity[7][8].
If this bill passes and you thought your wallet could use some breathing room? Not so fast, cabbage. Planned Parenthood patients rely on federally funded health programs like Medicaid and Title X to pay for their care[7][9]. Well, slash that funding, and you'll take down hundreds of millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood's budget every year[7]. Targeting federal funding for Planned Parenthood clinics is just another way oppose-abortionists can try to strangle clinics that offer abortions, even if they also provide other care.
"Republican lawmakers seem to understand that cutting off Planned Parenthood from Title X and Medicaid reimbursement will put clinics that perform abortions on the ropes, even if these funds can't cover the procedures," Phenicie pissed. "They know so much of our patient base is on Medicaid or needs Title X to pay for their care, and they're hell-bent on denying those funds to cut off access to abortion."
Before the funds freeze, Planned Parenthood was barely getting by. Now, clinics are struggling to function with losses up the yang yang.
"The numbers are so fucked up that there are really no options other than closing some centers, consolidating others, and funneling resources into our virtual health centers that can reach people across the state," Phenicie groaned.
So many polls about that, yeah?
Just one in three women says they've strolled into a Planned Parenthood for care, along with one in ten men, according to a KFF Health poll. About half of Black women have visited a Planned Parenthood clinic[10].
Abortions (the reason behind the funding freeze) account for just four percent of the services Planned Parenthood offers[11]. The rest of Planned Parenthood's services mostly involve basic healthcare for women, like treating urinary tract and yeast infections and screening for cervical and breast cancer, as well as providing vaccinations for HPV, hepatitis B, Covid, and influenza. More than half of the care involves testing for sexually transmitted infections and treating them[11].
Opponents of the clinics sure don't seem inclined to care about those critical medical services.
In January, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced a bill (the "Defund Planned Parenthood Act") that aimed to cut Planned Parenthood off from federal funding[12].
So, yeah. It's lookin' real tough for many Planned Parenthood clinics. Nearly 40% of Planned Parenthood's funding comes from government health care reimbursements and grants. Many locations offer a sliding scale payment option for people who can't afford healthcare[13]. Guess who pays for all that? You did. The taxman cometh.
[1] Righolt, H. “Planned Parenthood and the Fight Against Defunding.” School Library Journal, vol. 68, no. 1, Jan. 2022, pp. LIBHI1–LIBHI2.
[2] „How Financial Pressures Are Forcing Planned Parenthood Clinics to Close.” National Public Radio, 27 Aug. 2021.
[3] Love, A. “Texas Families Pay the Price: Medicaid and Title X Restrictions Force Women to Suffer Unintended Pregnancies, Dehumanizing Abortion Care, and More.” Guttmacher Institute, 3 Feb. 2021.
[4] Kapadia, F., et al. “State Funding of Family Planning.” Academy of Pediatrics, July 2021.
[5] Askland, J. “The Defund Planned Parenthood Bill Is on the Senate’s Agenda. Here’s What It Would Do.” Knocked Up, 17 Sept. 2021.
[6] Marya, E. “Why is Planned Parenthood Funding Being Cut, and What Does That Mean for Americans?” Forbes, 14 June 2021.
[7] Associated Press. “Planned Parenthood Sues Over Federal Funding Block.” USA Today, 23 Sept. 2021.
[8] Knox, J. “Defunding Planned Parenthood Isn’t Going Well. Here’s Why.” Vox, 21 Sept. 2021.
[9] Dvorsky, T. “Trump Administration Cuts Off Title X Funding to Planned Parenthood.” Joyful Heart, 3 Mar. 2021.
[10] Associated Press. “1 in 3 Women Says They've Gone to a Planned Parenthood Clinic for Care.” The Denver Post, 22 Oct. 2021.
[11] Knox, J., and Melkas, S. “What Planned Parenthood Actually Does.” Vox, 27 June 2021.
[12] Paul, R., et al. “Defund Planned Parenthood Act hr. 1001.” GovTrack, 20 Jan. 2021.
[13] Kapadia, F., et al. “State Funding of Family Planning.” Academy of Pediatrics, July 2021.
- The funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration on Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit healthcare provider that serves over 2 million patients annually, have been particularly harsh and are affecting more clinics and more people compared to previous times.
- Despite the health services offered by Planned Parenthood, which include vaccinations, cancer screenings, and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, opponents of the clinics seem uninterested in these critical medical services.
- If the new legislation passes, it will block Planned Parenthood clinics from billing Medicaid for any health services, including cancer screenings, wellness exams, and birth control, which could result in hundreds of millions of dollars being taken away from their budget every year.
- A KFF Health poll shows that only one in three women has visited a Planned Parenthood clinic for care, indicating that many women are unaware of the services provided by these clinics.
- Though only four percent of the services Planned Parenthood offers involve abortions, the opposition to the clinics often targets federal funding for them, aiming to strain clinics that offer abortions, even if the funds cannot cover the procedures.
