NYTimes | The political dispute embroiling Planned Parenthood
here and nationwide is over abortion, though public funds are not
permitted by federal law to be used for abortion, except in cases
involving rape, incest or a pregnancy that threatens the mother’s life.
Neither clinic in this state — like nearly half of all Planned
Parenthood centers — performs abortions. What the Louisiana Planned
Parenthood clinics did do last year was administer nearly 20,000 tests
for sexually transmitted infections, as well as provide gynecological
exams, contraceptive care, cancer screenings and other wellness services
for nearly 10,000 mostly low-income patients.
“You
can’t just cut Planned Parenthood off one day and expect everyone
across the city to absorb the patients,” Dr. Taylor said. “There needs
to be time to build the capacity.”
With
the calls to stop funding for Planned Parenthood, a visit to New
Orleans and Baton Rouge suggests that it would not be as easy to do
without the nonprofit centers as some Republicans and their
anti-abortion allies say. Other states would face similar problems.
Louisiana
is among a number of states counted as medically underserved: It has a
large poor and unhealthy population, with high rates of unintended
pregnancies, a shortage of health professionals and too few who will
accept Medicaid, as Planned Parenthood does.
“I
think of it as sort of a triple whammy, particularly in the South,”
said Cindy Mann, who until recently was the federal director of Medicaid, the joint state-federal program intended to help low-income Americans get medical care.
Congress’s
investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, reported in
2012 that four out of five Planned Parenthood patients nationally had
incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, and
two-thirds of states reported difficulties ensuring enough health
providers for Medicaid patients, especially in obstetrics and
gynecology.
Also,
since most funds that Planned Parenthood receives from taxpayers are
reimbursements for tending to Medicaid beneficiaries, experts in health
policy say lawmakers cannot simply take money from the organization and
redirect it to other facilities.
