U.S. Senate Republicans Vote to Defund Planned Parenthood

Saint Paul, MN – Yesterday, U.S. Senate Republicans voted to defund Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, its largest federal funding source, as part of President Trump’s agenda. Defunding Planned Parenthood could put health care for 1.1 million patients at risk.

This legislation would devastate health care access for people across Minnesota and the country — all to give tax breaks to billionaires.

In response, Tim Stanley, executive director of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund, issued the following statement:

“Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Senator Tina Smith voted to defend the health and well-being of Minnesotans. We are grateful to them for their effort to preserve critical health care. They understand that Planned Parenthood health centers play an irreplaceable role in the public health system in our state as well as the devastation this bill could cause.

“Though Senator Klobuchar and Senator Smith fought for Minnesotans, the Senate voted to defund Planned Parenthood. Because of them, cancers will go undetected, STIs will go untreated, birth control will be harder to get, and the public health infrastructure of communities will break down. Yet, Planned Parenthood health centers in Minnesota are committed to providing essential sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion care, amid politically motivated attacks.”

Sexual and reproductive health care access will shrink nationally if Congress defunds Planned Parenthood:

• Last year, more than 22,000 Minnesotan patients relied on Medicaid to access lifesaving and lifechanging health care, like STI testing and treatments, Pap tests, breast exams, birth control, HPV vaccines, and more.
• No other provider can step in and replace Planned Parenthood for the patients that will lose care, according to new Guttmacher Institute research.
• Defunding Planned Parenthood for just one year will cost taxpayers nearly $52 million over the next 10 years.

   

Next, the bill will head back to the House of Representatives, where several Republican lawmakers including Rep. Brad Finstad, Rep. Pete Stauber, Rep. Tom Emmer, and Rep. Michelle Fischbach have already faced significant backlash over their vote to defund Planned Parenthood as part of the House version of the bill passed in May.

Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund will make sure Minnesota’s representatives in the House understand that defunding Planned Parenthood means stripping their own constituents of access to health care.