Missouri's safety net cannot serve patients without Planned Parenthood
The health care safety net needs more resources, not fewer providers
New report finds only 7% of health centers in the state other than Planned Parenthood offer accessible and comprehensive family planning care
Missouri lawmakers recently passed two budget billsaimed at blocking patients from accessing preventive care at Planned Parenthood health centers. The bills await action from Governor Parson before July 1. Additionally, the Trump/Pence administration announced a dangerous policy that will impose new restrictions on Planned Parenthood. The “gag rule”will affect health care providers that participate in Title X, the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care that four million people rely on each year.
Preventing Missourians from choosing Planned Parenthood leaves many without access to vital preventive care, including birth control, cancer screenings, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment.
Planned Parenthood is a crucial component of the safety net
There's a common misconception that if Planned Parenthood is removed from the Title X network that other health care providers will just pick up the slack. I can tell you that this simply isn't the case — the health care safety net is already stretched too thin as it is,
Michelle Trupiano, Executive DirectorMissouri Family Health Council
Besides Planned Parenthood, only 7% of more than 600 safety-net health centers offer a full range of birth control options and have evening or weekend hours
Missouri’s safety net needs more resources, not fewer providers:
- 86% of non-Planned Parenthood providers DO NOT offer evening or weekend hours.
- 71% of non-Planned Parenthood providers DO NOT offer long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) like IUDs.
- 41% of non-Planned Parenthood providers DO NOT offer birth control and Pap tests.
Each of Missouri’s 11 Planned Parenthood health centers provides comprehensive and accessible care.
If patients can no longer choose Planned Parenthood, many will have nowhere to turn to access vital preventive care — the remaining health centers will not be able to absorb them
Federally qualified health centers simply don’t have the resources to offer the kind of drop-in care that’s Planned Parenthood’s specialty.
Dr. Abbe Sudvarg
St. Louis Public Radio, March 24, 2016