Federal funding could end for reproductive care center
Planned Parenthood and its services were brought into the public eye once again last month after the House of Representatives approved cuts to Title X, which could remove all federal funding to the organization.
In the unlikely event that the amendment passes through the Democratic-controlled Senate, it would cut the $75 million in federal funding granted annually to Planned Parenthood. The organization offers services such as cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted infections and birth control.
Planned Parenthood is currently the only provider of subsidized reproductive care in the region, said Lisa Perks, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southeast Ohio.
“Without the federal funding of Title X, the Athens Health Center and the other 34 centers in Ohio are at risk of closing, cutting services to 100,000 women in Ohio and over 1,300 women here in Southeast Ohio,” Perks said.
As a student at Ohio University, Bailey Tarleton, who has used services from Planned Parenthood in Athens for three years, said she was unsure where else she could go.
“It’s as important as saying some women’s livelihood depends on it,” Tarleton said.
President Richard Nixon originally signed Title X into effect in 1970 to prevent spending. It is estimated that every dollar of Title X saves $4 in next year’s medical expenses, said Stephanie Craddock Sherwood, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson and 2008 graduate of OU.
“We are an easy target. We are the largest abortion provider, even though 98 percent of what we do is preventative care,” said Sherwood, who also serves as an adviser to Voices for Planned Parenthood (VOX) student organizations in Ohio.
Abortions are not federally funded, so the funding cuts do not affect Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide abortions, she said.
“It’s not a cost-saving decision,” Perks said. “In a time where we’ve elected officials to grow our economy, they’re cutting services to the most vulnerable citizens and students.”
If the funding cuts do not close Planned Parenthood centers, the cuts would restrict the centers’ ability to charge for services on a sliding scale based on personal income, Sherwood said.
“In Southeast Ohio, a huge percentage of people receive services on a sliding scale. Without it, Planned Parenthood would serve almost no one,” said Riley Yuhas, a senior studying informational graphics and publication design and president of OU’s VOX.
In Ohio, 126,946 people have used Planned Parenthood for sexually transmitted disease testing, and 56,770 have used it for birth control, according to plannedparenthoodaction.org.
“One in five women in the United States has gone to Planned Parenthood for services,” Sherwood said. “I don’t understand how they have thought we are a fringe group.”
Tarleton turned to Planned Parenthood for birth control and, based on her income, had to pay very little for birth control and annual exams. Based on the confidentiality, her parents didn’t have to know.
Sherwood has also received her birth control from Planned Parenthood during her time at Ohio University, and added that her mother received her pre-natal vitamins from Planned Parenthood when she was pregnant.
“You never know when you are going to be in a position where you are going to need Planned Parenthood’s services,” Yuhas said.
jc543108@ohiou.edu
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