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State to replace federal Title X funding

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Planned Parenthood of Illinois is prepared to forgo more than $3 million in federal funds following the Trump administration’s Monday announcement that it will begin enforcing grant restrictions.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ new rule bars family-planning clinics that perform abortions, or refer patients for abortions, from accepting federal family-planning program funds known as Title X. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided not to block the administration from enforcing the so-called gag rule.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois has been preparing for such a rule since President Donald Trump took office, spokeswoman Julie Lynn said.

“There are emergency funds in place, but they won’t be around forever,” she added. “And private donations would never be able to supplement what we’re able to provide with Title X.”

* Center Square…

State Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, said he expects that to see more state funding for Planned Parenthood of Illinois after Democrats passed a number of policies to protect abortion rights. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he wants Illinois to be the most progressive state for reproductive rights.

* Press release…

Governor JB Pritzker announced Thursday that the State of Illinois will refuse to implement the Trump administration’s Title X gag rule. The gag rule holds hostage federal funding for contraception for low-income women unless providers refuse to refer or provide abortion services along with other reproductive health care.

The State of Illinois will forgo Title X funding from the federal government while the gag rule remains in effect. Instead, the Illinois Department of Public Health will provide funding to the current 28 grantees, an estimated $2.4 million in federal funding, if the gag rule remains in place for the duration of the fiscal year. As we move forward, the state remains committed to the multi-state lawsuit to permanently overturn this damaging rule.

“President Trump’s gag rule undermines women’s health care and threatens the providers that millions of women and girls rely on, and we will not let that stand in the state of Illinois,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Under my administration, Illinois will always stand with women and protect their fundamental right to choose. While I’m committed to bringing as many federal dollars to the state as possible, I refuse to sacrifice our values and allow vital care to lapse. In this state, we trust women to make their own health care decisions and will guarantee access to reproductive health care for all of our residents.”

Title X provides a holistic portfolio of critical preventive health services, including HIV prevention and testing, breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment, and reproductive health care for thousands of low-income, uninsured and underinsured Illinois residents and families each year. It’s estimated in Illinois that nearly 773,000 women of reproductive age are in need of publicly supported contraceptive services and supplies.

…Adding… Colleen Connell, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois…

We applaud Governor JB Pritzker for his announcement that the State of Illinois will use state funds to cover health care previously supported by Title X funding from the federal government.

The Governor’s action today protects thousands of women from Zion to Carbondale – and everywhere between in Illinois – who depend on health care funded by Title X funds. Local health departments, health centers, school-based health centers, Planned Parenthood clinics and hospitals all rely on these funds to insure their patients have access to a full range of health care. These caregivers provide critical treatment for many, and reduce incidents of unintended pregnancy across our state. In other words, they provide patient-centered care.

Ignoring the real need for this health care for Illinois women, the Trump Administration has politicized this life-saving health care, placing unnecessary and dangerous restrictions on how grantees under Title X can utilize this funding. We thank Governor JB Pritzker for acting swiftly to protect all women in Illinois – ensuring that the same level of funding for women’s health care will be available in the Land of Lincoln without the strings attached by Donald Trump.

As we cheer this step forward in our state, we will not cease resisting the Trump Administration’s efforts to trade women’s health care for partisan political support. In the courts and in the Congress, we will continue to advocate for removing the limits on how doctors and nurses provide health care. This dangerous policy must be reversed.

…Adding… Jennifer Welch, President and CEO Planned Parenthood of Illinois…

We are grateful to Governor Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ezike for their decision to not accept Title X family planning funding as long as the ‘gag rule’ is in place. The relationship between a patient and their doctor is based on trust and honesty; the gag rule violates that trust and puts patients’ health at risk. Governor Pritzker is, once again, standing up to the Trump-Pence administration because access to health care such as cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, and other family planning services should be available to anyone who needs them regardless of their ability to pay.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois is committed to providing every patient who walks through our doors with the information and care they need to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. We are glad that the Illinois Department of Public Health is joining Planned Parenthood of Illinois in rejecting the grant because the gag rule is unethical. We look forward to working with the Governor’s office to ensure everyone in Illinois has family planning services available to them, no matter what.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 2:11 pm

Comments

Bravo Governor Pritzker!

Comment by Shytown Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 2:33 pm
100% good politics for JB to do this.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 2:36 pm
And good for people that need pap smears and STI tests.

Comment by lakeside Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 2:44 pm
Can we get a quote from Planned Parenthood’s CEO? Oh, wait…

Comment by City Zen Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 2:49 pm
Planned Parenthood could physically separate their two operations and continue to receive federal funding. The fact they won’t says the cost would be more than the funding they are losing. Or that they value the abortion side of the business more than the family planning / women’s health side.

For the record, I am mostly agnostic on the issue but Mrs RNUG is strongly anti-abortion.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 3:10 pm
Some construction companies are “double breasted “ with a union side and a non union side. Like RNUG says Planned Parenthood could physically separate operations, but chooses not to do so.

They are clearly winning the battle of beliefs. My daughters consider abortion simply a medical procedure with no strong moral component.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 3:28 pm
==Or that they value the abortion side of the business more than the family planning / women’s health side.==

Or that they value abortion as part of reproductive health care, just like the other family planning services they provide. And already operate the facilities they need to perform their services.

It’d be like telling an optometrist that they can see patients for eye health, glasses, lasik and cataracts surgeries. But you have to have an entirely separate building and a separate business to do the cataracts. I think the doctor would push back on the need to run an entirely separate facility and company when they already have what they need in the building they already have.

PP has already segregated funding. PP and people who support them believe that abortion is part of health care. And know that separating abortions out would a) further erode that idea and b) wouldn’t placate the people who are anti-abortion. There’s a 0% chance that people who want to defund PP would be like, “Oh great, they now do their abortions elsewhere; I’m totally on board for their federal funding.”

Comment by lakeside Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 3:50 pm
==Planned Parenthood could physically separate their two operations and continue to receive federal funding.==

Or the federal government could physically separate payments and only pay for healthcare services not abortions. Oh snap. They already do with the Hyde Amendment.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 3:55 pm
This is the first and, hopefully, last time I hear this issue in the context of removing cataracts.

Comment by City Zen Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 4:11 pm
“hopefully last time I hear this issue in the context of removing cataracts.” Ok then, how about dialation?

Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 4:16 pm
== But you have to have an entirely separate building and a separate business … ==

Money is fungible … probably why they want two seperate businesses

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 5:06 pm
It’s about the gag rule, folks. If PP separates, the health care part would not be able to refer anyone to the abortion services part. They cannot allow themselves to separate these two things, which they see as part of one mandate to provide reproductive health care to women. It allows the conservatives to impose their Orwellian newspeak world view on PP.

And this is another way Illinois shows the world how we differ from red states.

Comment by Jibba Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 5:10 pm
In this country we try hard not to tax people and then use the tax money for things they oppose on moral grounds. An extreme case is the conscious objector exemption from the draft.
An abortion is a private medical procedure. A considerable number of citizens object to this procedure on moral grounds. The compromise was to permit abortion but to ban the use of tax money to pay for the procedure.
This compromise is not holding. I never had a moral objection to abortion but am sorry to see the compromise fail.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Thursday, Jul 18, 19 @ 6:52 pm
==In this country we try hard not to tax people and then use the tax money for things they oppose on moral grounds.==

Nope. You have to pay taxes no matter what. Hate war? You still have to pay taxes for that war.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Jul 19, 19 @ 7:47 am