Branstad faces pressure to defund Planned Parenthood in Iowa

DES MOINES - Conservative activists and Republican lawmakers are turning up the pressure on GOP Gov. Terry Branstad to halt any government money going - even indirectly - to Planned Parenthood organizations in Iowa.

On Thursday, the Family Leader Foundation began a web-based campaign with a video reminding the governor of a 2010 campaign promise he made to defund Planned Parenthood in Iowa, and calling on Iowans to mobilize pressure to persuade the governor to make good on the commitment.

That followed a call by GOP lawmakers urging Branstad to use executive action to cancel funding that the Iowa Department of Human Services reported topped $2.8 million to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland last fiscal year.

'There are no excuses left for Branstad's inaction,” Family Leader Foundation President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats said in a statement. 'His own party insists he act. Iowans are lighting up his phone lines demanding he act. Conscience requires he act. It's time for Branstad to make good on his promise and defund Planned Parenthood.”

Branstad told reporters he is working with legislators and Iowa's congressional delegation to see what can be done, but noted 'it's a little more complicated because the state of Iowa has no direct contracts with Planned Parenthood and the state provides no funding for abortions.

'We are looking at some of the indirect ways that Planned Parenthood receives funding through primarily the Medicaid program,” he added. 'We're going to be looking at things we might be able to do together to make sure that the state of Iowa is not in any way complicit in some of the activities that we've seen that Planned Parenthood has been involved in nationally.”

The latest developments are part of an ongoing outcry from groups and politicians opposed to abotion rights outraged by videos released by an anti-abortion organization that purportedly show Planned Parenthood officials nonchalantly discussing the harvesting and selling of aborted baby organs.

None of the Planned Parenthood officials shown in the videos are from Iowa. The organization has asserted to Congress that an investigation it commissioned found the videos had been manipulated.

A group of 41 House and Senate Republicans in Iowa recently called on Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to investigate the practices of abortion providers in Iowa to determine if any laws have been broken.

Miller, a Democrat, responded this month that 'Iowa does not have any state laws governing the transfer of fetal tissue.” He asked them to contact federal authorities if they had 'reliable information” U.S. laws were broken. He also attached to his letter a response from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which said it does not engage in tissue donations even if requested by patients.

Still, Vander Plaats said Thursday that Branstad has been provided with legal evidence that he has cause to terminate state contracts,

'Furthermore, Iowa has over 200 women's health clinics not affiliated with Planned Parenthood and which offer more comprehensive health care - such as mammograms and well-child services - that Planned Parenthood does not provide,” Vander Plaats said.

Federal officials have warned states that they can't withhold Medicaid money for covered services just because a qualifying agency also provides abortions, But Branstad said Thursday 'there's a difference of opinion” on that.

At the same time, he said, 'we need to recognize that Planned Parenthood has been quick to sue us” and successfully challenge an Iowa Board of Medicine rule that would have barred abortion services via telemedicine to rural clinics.

'So we have to be very cognizant of being on solid legal footing on any action that we take,” Branstad said.

Angie Remington, public relations manager for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, issued a statement Thursday saying her organization 'is an integral part of the collaborative community health network that works together to provide affordable, comprehensive care to Iowans.”

She added, 'We provide care to nearly 38,000 women and men in Iowa each year with well-woman exams, contraception, lifesaving cancer screenings, STD tests and treatments, abortion and more.”

Amy Lorentzen McCoy, DHS public information officer, said Iowa's Medicaid program has 43,000 enrolled providers, including Planned Parenthood agencies, that are reimbursed for approved clinical services, such as exams, birth control pills and sterilizations provided to Medicaid members.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland was paid $2.64 million in Medicaid payments by Iowa Medicaid Enterprise in fiscal 2015, with the state share totaling $215,273.

McCoy noted that expenditures for all Medicaid family planning services, including those provided by Planned Parenthood, was nearly $16 million last fiscal year.

Another $210,372 in awards were paid to Planned Parenthood agencies last fiscal year as part of the Community Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program whereby broad-based community coalitions provide teen pregnancy prevention educational programming for teens, parents, schools, and youth-serving organizations, she said.

Family Leader officials say they are urging their members and all Iowans to contact the governor 'turn up the heat” in support of the 'Keep Your Promise” campaign that encourages the governor to 'do the right thing and defund Planned Parenthood today.”