Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2021 (H.R. 541) may be regarded as a bill that may lead to substantial health-care policy issues if it becomes law. According to it, The Planned Parenthood Federation of America should receive less government funds (Rolfes-Haase & Swers 2022; Johnstonbaugh, 2020). Being legalized, this policy will prevent any government funds from flowing to Planned Parenthood (Etheridge et al., 2022). This includes Medicaid, a government-run healthcare program for low-income Americans.
In the present day, Planned Parenthood plays a crucial role in the provision of quality reproductive and sexual health care across the country. According to the Guttmacher Institute (2019), the above policy served 41% of all patients treated at a publicly financed family planning clinic in 2017. In addition, it ensures the provision of service to one out of every four women who seek care from a publicly financed family planning clinic (Etheridge et al., 2022). Finally, the data anticipate that if the aforementioned legislation is defunded, there will be 21,700 unplanned pregnancies in the United States (Johnstonbaugh, 2020). The statistics indicates the significance of Planned Parenthood for a considerable number of citizens. In this case, a lack of funding of its facilities lead to the devastating consequences for people’s reproductive health.
This policy problem is related to health care prices, quality, and access in a variety of ways. One of the most significant ways is that it would defund Planned Parenthood, resulting in a decline in the quality and accessibility of reproductive health care (Etheridge et al., 2022). The act provides various reproductive health services, such as contraception, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and more (Rolfes-Haase & Swers 2022). This issue is also important from a cost perspective. According to a report from the Congressional Budget Office, defunding Planned Parenthood would actually increase government spending by about $130 million over the next 10 years (Planned Parenthood, 2017). In addition, services will be unavailable for various population groups. In my practice, one of my patients, a 25-year-old woman, who was a patient at the clinic using her parents’ health insurance as a college student came for her annual well woman exam and contraception. These opportunities were provided by Planned Parenthood, and if it was defunded, Jill would no longer be able to use the clinic’s services related to her reproductive health as they will not be covered by insurance.
References
Etheridge, S., Hall, R., Respress, W., Hill- Robertson, C., & Walker, D. (2022). Healthcare in the US: Repeal and replace. Mercer University. Web.
Guttmacher Institute. (2019). Publicly supported family planning services in the United States. Guttmacher Institute.
Johnstonbaugh, M. (2020). Standing up for women? How party and gender influence politicians’ online discussion of planned parenthood. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 41(4), 477-499.
Planned Parenthood. (2017). CBO score confirms “defunding” Planned Parenthood would mean losing access to care. Planned Parenthood.
Rolfes-Haase, K. L., & Swers, M. L. (2022). Understanding the gender and partisan dynamics of abortion voting in the House of Representatives. Politics & Gender, 18(2), 448-482.