Daniels to sign bill to defund Planned Parenthood

Posted: Apr 29, 2011 2:58 PM EDT
Updated: Apr 29, 2011 7:07 PM EDT


A rally at the Indiana Statehouse in March.
INDIANAPOLIS - Gov. Daniels says he'll sign a bill that will cut funding to Planned Parenthood.

Supporters and opponents of Planned Parenthood planned rallies around Indiana and email and telephone campaigns to the governor to lobby him on whether to sign or veto a measure that cuts off $3 million a year in federal funding to the family planning organization.

The bill passed by the Legislature this week it is the nation's first to cut off Planned Parenthood's federal funding because the group provides abortions.

"I will sign HEA 1210 when it reaches my desk a week or so from now. I supported this bill from the outset, and the recent addition of language guarding against the spending of tax dollars to support abortions creates no reason to alter my position. The principle involved commands the support of an overwhelming majority of Hoosiers, as reflected in greater than 2:1 bipartisan votes in both legislative chambers," the governor said in a statement.

The statement went on to say:

"I commissioned a careful review of access to services across the state and can confirm that all non-abortion services, whether family planning or basic women's health, will remain readily available in every one of our 92 counties. In addition, I have ordered the Family and Social Services Administration to see that Medicaid recipients receive prompt notice of nearby care options. We will take any actions necessary to ensure that vital medical care is, if anything, more widely available than before. Any organization affected by this provision can resume receiving taxpayer dollars immediately by ceasing or separating its operations that perform abortions."

More about the impact of HEA 1210 in Indiana:

· This law will affect 7 entities in Indiana which have a total of 34 locations in 21 counties throughout the state.

· In the 21 counties where these 7 entities currently operate, there are approximately 800 Medicaid providers which are eligible to provide Medicaid clients with health and family planning services.

County Medicaid Providers

ALLEN 63
BARTHOLOMEW 10
DELAWARE 23
ELKHART 37
FLOYD 7
HENDRICKS 25
JACKSON 5
JEFFERSON 6
KOSCIUSKO 29
LAKE 118
LAPORTE 17
LAWRENCE 14
MARION 192
MONROE 21
PORTER 22
ST. JOSEPH 71
SCOTT 11
TIPPECANOE 26
VANDERBURGH 38
VIGO 54
WAYNE 11
Total 800

Right to Life of Southwest Indiana, one of the state's most active anti-abortion groups, sent email messages to its supporters urging them to phone or email Daniels to sign the bill.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana says it planned rallies against the bill Friday through Wednesday in Bedford, Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Mishawaka, Muncie and Seymour.

Statement from Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana:

"The decision to sign HB 1210 into law is unconscionable and unspeakable. We will now suffer the consequences of lawmakers who have no regard for fact-based decision making and sound public health policy.

As many as 22,000 low-income Hoosiers will lose their medical home. Countless patients will find themselves without access to lifesaving tests to avoid the tragic outcomes of cervical and breast cancer and epidemic sexually transmitted disease here in Indiana.

What are the consequences of taking away federal funding that passes through the state to PPIN?

The Federal Centers for Disease Control tells us that the legalization of birth control was one of the ten most meaningful advances in public health policy in the last century. And yet our legislative leadership has unplugged those most in need from that essential service. They are creating a lose-lose for Hoosiers. Decreased birth control means more unintended pregnancy. More unintended pregnancy means increased Medicaid spending. Indiana already has one of the highest rates of Medicaid-covered births. The cost is already 450 million dollars. Logic would suggest that those births will lead to Medicaid-covered dependents for perhaps eighteen years. The lawmakers have outdone themselves in contributing further to the cycle of poverty here in Indiana, where 22 percent of our children live below the poverty line.

We will be filing an injunction immediately to try to halt this alarming erosion of public health policy in our state."

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