Subject: Teen Vogue: Half the United States Is Currently Trying to Close Planned Parenthood
From: "Wei, Shu-Yen" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 11:08:18 -0700

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/half-of-united-states-trying-to-close-planned-parenthood
Half the United States Is Currently Trying to Close Planned Parenthood
Threatening healthcare for hundreds of thousands of people.
[http://assets.teenvogue.com/photos/571e27d0f401c82f344301fd/1:1/w_70,c_limit/Headshot.jpg]
Laura Stampler<http://www.teenvogue.com/contributor/laura-stampler>MAY 11, 2016 3:31PM EDT
[planned parenthood]
Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP

Every year, Planned Parenthood helps 2.5 million<https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/planned-parenthood-at-a-glance> men and women receive affordable, and sometimes life saving<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a44240/defunding-planned-parenthood-is-the-opposite-of-pro-life/>, preventative care. But the healthcare provider is currently under a brutal attack that is, quite frankly, unprecedented — and the casualties of this war against accessible medical services will primarily be low-income communities and women of color.

Since July, 24 different states<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/24-states-threaten-end-planned-parenthood-access> have taken measures to defund Planned Parenthood. And that movement is only gaining momentum: Kansas<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/planned-parenthood-kansas_us_572a415ae4b096e9f0900c44>, Mississippi<http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/31941460/governor-signs-bill-to-defund-planned-parenthood>, and Missouri<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-missouri-planned-parenthood-20160424-story.html> took defunding measures this week and Planned Parenthood told Teen Vogue that it expects Arizona to do so next week.

Lawmakers have spent millions of dollars<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-missouri-planned-parenthood-20160424-story.html> in state funding to do things like bar Medicaid patients from going to Planned Parenthood. And even though the Congressional Budget Officesaid<https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/costestimate/ltrpermanentdefundplannedparenthood.pdf> that 650,000 people will have less access to healthcare if patients who rely on public health programs can no longer go to Planned Parenthood under these laws, the attacks continue.

And that's why Planned Parenthood is fighting back.

On May 4, the organization filed a lawsuit against the state of Kansas. And today, Planned Parenthood Federation of America chief medical officer Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley announced on a press call that, "Planned Parenthood filed suit in federal district court to protect access to health care and education for tens of thousands of Ohioans."
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John Kasich’s policies hurt Ohioans – so PP Ohio is taking him to court to protect their patients. #WontBePunished<https://twitter.com/hashtag/WontBePunished?src=hash>
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In February, Ohio governor and former Republican presidential nominee John Kasich signed acontroversial<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/john-kasich-town-hall-defunding-planned-parenthood> bill to defund Planned Parenthood that will take effect May 23.

"As a healthcare provider, I have dedicated my life to protecting the health and well being of my patients," Dr. McDonald-Mosley said. "Nothing is harder than when I see politicians making it difficult or impossible for people to get the care they need... For our patients, this is not about politics, it’s about getting the care they need."

If the law goes into effect, Planned Parenthood told Teen Vogue that 2,800 new or expectant mothers who rely on Planned Parenthood for healthcare and health education through its "Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies” program would no longer receive that care. The law would also end access to more than 70,000 free STD screenings, including 5,000 free HIV and STD tests for African-American women and gay men.

Considering that out of the 50 states, Ohio ranked 7th and 19th, respectively, for gonorrhea and chlamydia infections and 12th in new HIV cases<http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/stateprofiles/pdf/ohio_profile.pdf> in 2013, this poses a lot of obvious problems.

"These are not just data points," Dr. McDonald-Mosley said. "We have seen the very real consequences for our patients in states that block access to care."

When Indiana shut down its rural Planned Parenthood facilities, it experienced an HIVepidemic<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/24-states-threaten-end-planned-parenthood-access>.

And when Planned Parenthoods closed in Texas, Planned Parenthood found<http://ppfa.pr-optout.com/ViewAttachment.aspx?EID=mr9WXYw4u2IxYnni1dBRVo53wuOuuEslWUznjPTxC0g=> that, among women who accessed care through the Women's Health program, "it led to a 35% decline in women using the most effective methods of birth control. And... there was a dramatic 27% spike in births among women who had previously used injectable contraception."

"Let’s call this what it is: an attack on the people who already have the least access to health care," said Dr. McDonald-Mosley. "People with low income and communities of color are both groups who have historically faced systemic barriers in accessing quality health care."

The fight against Planned Parenthood largely surrounds a woman's ability to access safe (and legal) abortions. But as our politicians wage this war, they're ignoring the other casualties at stake if Planned Parenthood is forced to close its doors — namely affordable, life-saving healthcare for Americans that need it the most.