Let's Talk Funding

Planned Parenthood’s mission is to provide free reproductive healthcare to those individuals who otherwise would not be able to afford normal health services.  They are one of the nation’s top healthcare providers, and have been since they began their work in in the early 1900s.  And with Planned Parenthood being such a large national organization, you must think to yourself, how can they afford to provide these services?

And no, unfortunately, it is not through donations (at least not most of it is).

Planned Parenthood is a federally funded organization.  They have received funding from the government since 1970, when president Nixon signed into law the “Family Planning Services and Population Research Act”, or better known as “Title X”.  (x) The purpose of this act was specifically designed to provide poor and/or lower income families with access to free healthcare.

At the time, Title X had the support of both the Democratic and Republican party.  Now, however, we start to see the Republican party go against Planned Parenthood – mostly over the issue of abortion, which I discussed in my last post. 

Planned Parenthood receives half a billion dollars each year from the government.  This money is provided through two specific government programs: Medicaid and Title X.  (x) Medicaid is a social health care program, again provided health services to those who would otherwise not be able to afford it.  In 2014, 65 million people were on Medicaid, which is a large portion of our nation. 

Although most of Planned Parenthood’s money is received from the federal government, a portion of what they earn comes out of state funds.  Title X is a federal program, however Medcaid operates through federal and state funds. 

In 2015, Jed Bush, a politician who served as the governor of Florida, made a jab at Planned Parenthood saying they’re “not actually doing women’s health issues”.   He also stated he’s “not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues.” (x)

He’s not the only one.  Many people, politicians and average citizens alike, wish to defund Planned Parenthood. 

As I stated before, this is mainly due to the issue of abortions.  While they only cover 3 percent of the services provided by Planned Parenthood, some people believe abortions are morally wrong, therefore wish to see any organization that provides them eradicated.  According to the law, Title X is actually not allowed to fund abortions.  However, Medicaid on the other hand is.

There was actually a scandal last year claiming that Planned Parenthood was improperly disposing of fetal tissue and selling baby parts.  While the organization denied the allegations, it still sparked controversy that called for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. (x)

Bills have set out in the past to try and defund the organization.  However, none of them actually passed.

According to Planned Parenthood themselves, 67% of their funding goes toward “medical services”.  16% goes toward “non medical services”, 10% goes toward “management and general support”, and 5% goes toward “fundraising”. (x)

And as far as how and where they get their money, 45% of it comes from the government.  25% of it comes from non-government affiliated health services, 26% of it comes from private contributions (so I guess more than a quarter of it does come through donations), and then 4% is just listed as other. (x) 

What would happen if we were to defund Planned Parenthood?  In actuality, the money probably just go another organization providing women's health care.

In my next post, I will wrap up all things Planned Parenthood.  I will go over it's history, the services it provides -- in hopes for you to better understand what the organization is about and be able to make an educated decision on whether you support it or not.