Senate Republicans failed to pass a bill Monday defunding Planned Parenthood, but in the process they set off a sharp debate about the scope of community health centers that serve millions of low-income Americans.
If passed, the legislation would mean that instead of getting birth control or some screenings from Planned Parenthood clinics, women eligible for Medicaid or family planning dollars would have to visit community health centers, which provide a broader range of services but are already overburdened by large patient loads.
At issue is whether Planned Parenthood should continue receiving federal dollars to use for non-abortion services, as the group is under congressional and federal investigation for participating in donations of aborted fetal tissue. The Republican bill essentially would have transferred the funding to community health centers, which are not allowed to offer abortions at all.
“Community health centers provide more comprehensive primary and preventive healthcare services except abortion … the American taxpayer should not be asked to fund an organization like Planned Parenthood that has shown a sheer disdain for human dignity,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, the bill’s chief sponsor.
There are nearly 13 community health centers for every one Planned Parenthood clinic in the U.S., according to a Washington Examiner analysis of data provided by the National Association of Community Health Centers. About 2.7 million women visit Planned Parenthood clinics each year, while community health centers serve about 23 million patients.
Republicans and abortion opponents seized on those statistics to build up their argument that women’s healthcare services wouldn’t suffer if Planned Parenthood were deprived of federal dollars.
While Planned Parenthood is the country’s largest abortion provider, its 700-some clinics provide much more than abortions. Birth control, screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and cancer screenings make up the vast majority of its healthcare services. But Republicans also noted that the clinics don’t provide the full range of healthcare services that community health centers offer.
Sen. James Lankford said “the dirty secret” is that Planned Parenthood clinics don’t offer mammograms. “We’re talking about taking funding from a location that refers [mammograms] to a location that actually does the mammogram,” he said.
But it’s not at all clear-cut that community health centers could easily absorb many of Planned Parenthood’s patients.
“[Republicans] are trying to shift the responsibility to someone who doesn’t exist,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.
A study released last week by the George Washington University School of Public Health found that among female patients who visit low-income clinics and didn’t desire to become pregnant, more than three in 10 were not currently using a birth control method — underscoring the strain such clinics are already experiencing.
Add to that the coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act, and clinics are seeing more patients than ever. About half the states have so far expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, meaning more low-income Americans have coverage and are more frequently visiting the doctor.
“Health centers, just in terms of the family-planning needs of their patients, are woefully behind,” said Sara Rosenbaum, professor of health law and policy at George Washington. “So the notion they could somehow absorb millions of new patients — you can’t ramp up this quickly.”
Republicans have insisted on voting to defund Planned Parenthood over the last few weeks, prompted by a series of videos by an anti-abortion group, which went undercover to catch some of the group’s top officials discussing fetal organ donations.
Planned Parenthood has said it has done nothing illegal, but it has apologized for episodes in the videos where officials appeared to be haggling over the price of fetal body parts. It’s not illegal to be compensated for donating fetal tissue, but it is against the law to profit from it.
Some Democrats have cautiously said the entire practice of donating aborted fetal tissue should be investigated, but they also have defended Planned Parenthood for how it provides non-abortion services to millions of women each year.
