Iowa bill that would cut Planned Parenthood funding moves to Senate floor

DES MOINES — After an emotional and at times tense day, the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee moved forward legislation that would cut funding from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

Senate File 2 would discontinue a federal Medicaid waiver that provides millions of dollars in funding to family planning providers across the state. It instead would create a new state-funded program that would exclude facilities that provide abortions from receiving the funds.

In fiscal year 2016, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland received about $1 million in funding through the waiver.

To cover the new program, the state would shift money from a federal block grant that pays for child and family services.

Last year, more than 12,000 Iowans received services through the waiver, including Pap smears, birth control and cancer screenings. No state or federal dollars are used to fund abortions.

Before the committee meeting even took place, supporters and opponents of the legislation packed the statehouse. Anti-abortion advocates, dressed in black, sang hymns and prayed outside the committee room.

Meanwhile, pro-abortion rights supporters, wearing pink, stood in the room holding up signs that read, 'I stand with Planned Parenthood.'

'I've received many comments and I've read them,' said Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, co-sponsor of the bill. 'Many Iowans have brought questions to me and concerns, and I have considered them all. Even the ones that called me names, shamed me and told me I have a special place in hell.'

Sinclair argues that the state-funded program would increase access for women, especially those in rural areas not served by a Planned Parenthood clinic, by spreading out dollars more evenly. She said the state-run program, which would begin on July 1, will fund the same services, including Pap smears and sexually transmitted infection testing.

'There are zero Planned Parenthood clinics in' my senate district, she said. 'And I would suggest that is true for many other rural Senate districts as well. So anyone in my district would have to drive to one of those clinics, all located in urban areas, to access care for their needs under the current system.'

Echoing Sinclair's argument, Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, worked to poke holes in that argument, asking several senators — all co-sponsors of the legislations — to name the new providers in their districts that would offer the same level of care as Planned Parenthood. They were unable to.

'I have not availed myself to family planning services,' Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, replied.

Petersen argued that the program has been proven to work. Citing a May 2016 University of Iowa Public Policy Center study, she said, the Iowa Family Planning Network waiver has provided health care to 80,000 women since its inception in 2006; reduced Medicaid costs for deliveries, birth and first year of life by nearly $345 million; and saved the state about $3.40 for every dollar spent.

What's more, she said, politicians are putting themselves between women and their doctors, jeopardizing the care that thousands of low-income women receive through Planned Parenthood.

'Twenty-eight men (who co-sponsored the legislation) who have never had to get undressed, put on a gown and put their feet in stirrups for a Pap smear are telling women what's best for them,' Petersen said.

The bill, which was approved 8 to 5, now will move forward to debate on the Senate floor.

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