10A Charleston Gazette-Mail, Saturday, February 22, 2020

By Susan HaighThe Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. — Several states have begun picking up the tab for family planning services at clinics run by Planned Parenthood, which last year quit a $260 million federal funding program over a Trump administration rule prohibiting clinics from refer-ring women for abortions.

States including New Jer-sey, Massachusetts and Ha-waii already are providing new funding, and Democratic governors in Connecticut and Pennsylvania have proposed carving out money in state budgets to counter the effects of the national provider’s fall-out with the Republican pres-idential administration.

The proposals have stirred political debates over abortion at the state level, with some opponents claiming it’s a gov-ernment endorsement of abor-tion and an inappropriate use of taxpayer money.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lam-ont earmarked $1.2 million for Planned Parenthood in his new budget proposal. The executive director of the Con-necticut Catholic Conference, Christopher Healy, criticized it as a purely political act.

“Where is the pressing need here to do this?” Healy said, arguing Planned Parenthood does not need taxpayer mon-ey. “They have the ability to raise money.”

Lamont said he wants to help cover an expected short-

fall for Planned Parenthood to ensure women in Connecticut have access to all the health services they need. A spokes-man for Lamont said the ad-ministration doesn’t want the abortion debate to stymie ac-cess to things like contracep-tion and cervical cancer screenings.

“Look, this is the law of the land. Here in a state like this, we believe that abortion rights are right, and we believe they ought to be affordable for folks who otherwise might not have that availability,” Lamont said. “So I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Nationwide, about 4 million women across the U.S., many low-income and uninsured, were receiving services last year under the Title X federal program, including STD test-ing, various screenings, edu-cation and wellness exams. Planned Parenthood and some other providers decided to withdraw from the program rather than comply with what Planned Parenthood calls the Trump administration’s “gag order,” which bars clinics that participate in Title X from referring women for abor-tions. The move caused a money crunch for some clin-ics.

Since then, some of the rejected federal funds have been replenished by state or local funds in Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Vermont, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, California and New York. Ha-waii’s current fiscal year bud-

get sets aside $750,000 to partly cover a $2 million loss in Title X grant money.

In Massachusetts, Republi-can Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation authorizing up to $8 million. In California, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors last year voted to cover a $482,000 expected shortfall for six Planned Par-

enthood clinics serving 36,274 patients. And Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, has included a $3 mil-lion line item in his proposed 2020-21 budget to also help offset the funding loss for Planned Parenthood provid-ers.

In Oregon, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the

Trump administration’s rule, a spokesman for Planned Par-enthood Advocates of Oregon said the agency has been “working closely with state officials to create critical back-stops and protect access to care for all Oregonians who need it, regardless of federal action on Title X,” and com-mended Gov. Kate Brown, a

Democrat, for prioritizing funding for reproductive health services.

Abortion opponents have accused governors of provid-ing the money to gain favor with an organization that of-ten supports Democrats at election time.

In New Jersey, where Dem-ocratic Gov. Phil Murphy last month signed legislation that set aside $9.5 million in state money for family planning at Planned Parenthood, New Jersey Right to Life called it a disgraceful money grab.

“The taxpayers of NJ should not be forced to fund abortion -– and make no mistake -– that is what this bill will do,” Marie Tasy, the group’s exec-utive director, said in a written statement.

Title X regulations prohibit funds from being used for abortions, with some narrow exceptions, and the money Lamont has proposed would fund Title X services and not on abortions, according to Connecticut’s Department of Public Health.

Abortion opponents in Con-necticut have argued for years that state funds should not be used for abortions or abortion referrals. The state’s health insurance program paid for 6,995 abortions in 2018. A Department of Social Services spokesman said Connecticut is under a court order to pay for any abortion for a Medic-aid-covered woman that she and her doctor have deter-mined to be necessary.

States step up funding for Planned Parenthood clinics

AP file photo

Gov. Jay Inslee talks with Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, right, after a news confer-ence in Seattle, addressing a change in rules of the Title X family planning program, Aug. 22, 2019. Washington is among several states now picking up the tab in 2020 for family planning services at clinics run by Planned Parenthood, which ceased participating in the federal funding program in 2019.

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