Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic Statement on State Budget

RALEIGH — Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic released the following statement in response to the state budget advancing through the General Assembly: 

“We are incredibly disappointed that General Assembly leadership walked away from negotiations and instead advanced a state budget that denies health insurance coverage for half a million people while giving millions of dollars to sham women's health centers that are generally unregulated, unlicensed, and target people experiencing financial hardship,” said Alison Kiser, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic. “State lawmakers have again put politics before the health of North Carolinians by rejecting federal dollars to expand Medicaid, throwing away the most significant step state leaders can take toward getting the coverage people need to live healthy, productive lives and lowering infant and maternal mortality in the state. Leaders in Raleigh have also shamefully given away more than 15 million dollars to fake women's health centers that purposefully confuse and manipulate people facing an unwanted pregnancy — by far the most funding ever allocated to these anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ organizations.”

Background

• If North Carolina expanded Medicaid, more than 500,000 people would become eligible for health insurance coverage. North Carolina currently ranks 30th for maternal mortality in the U.S., and Black women here are three to four times more likely to die due to pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts.

• The state budget includes more than 15.6 million dollars for fake women’s health centers known as “crisis pregnancy centers.” The General Assembly has included state funds for these fake clinics since 2011. 

• The state budget also includes a provision that denies abortion providers state funding for family planning, pregnancy prevention, and teen parenting programs. 

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