As many as 99,000 low income Ohioans who want birth control and reproductive health care services have fewer options now that Planned Parenthood nationwide has pulled out of the federal Title X program. In nine counties, it鈥檚 the only provider that accepted Title X funds.
Planned Parenthood objects to a new rule that it says restricts the doctor-patient relationship.
Athens is the poorest county in the state, according to Ohio鈥檚 2018 poverty report. It鈥檚 also home to one of the largest universities in Ohio. And it鈥檚 one of nine counties that will no longer have a Title X provider for reproductive health services now that Planned Parenthood has said it will reject those funds. That鈥檚 because of a new rule from the Trump administration preventing any medical provider receiving that money from talking about abortion. Planned Parenthood says it refuses to put that kind of wall between doctors and patients.
Former Ohio University student Emma Schultz says she and others she knows have gone to Planned Parenthood for the privacy it offers when accessing birth control options or STD testing.
鈥淚f their parents are not approving of them being on birth control or being sexually active, then it can be very scary to disclose that information to your family. And I believe everyone has the right to that kind of privacy. It鈥檚 also if you are in a situation where maybe a partner could find out about things and if you are in an abusive relationship, there are confidentiality issues and everybody deserves to feel safe," Schultz says.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio had received about $4 million a year from the federal government for its non-abortion services, including family planning, cancer screenings and basic health care. Two of the 19 offices Planned Parenthood operates in Ohio offer abortions 鈥� in Columbus and Cleveland. The Athens clinic can refer pregnant women to those two clinics, but clinician Jennifer Graham says it鈥檚 rare.
鈥淲e see by far more of our patients for birth control options than unplanned pregnancies. By far. There鈥檚 just no comparison," Graham says.
The Athens clinic, like the others, offers birth control, screenings for cancer or sexual transmitted diseases, the HIV prevention drug known as Prep and more.
State lawmakers defunded Planned Parenthood a few years ago, taking away about $1.5 million in annual support for birth control and those tests. Now that there won鈥檛 be federal funds to help provide those services, patients without private insurance or Medicaid will have to bear more of the cost though payment plans have been established to help ease that burden.
Even so, Kristi Steward, the practicing manager at the Athens clinic, says some patients might find it difficult to get the kind of care they need, though the organization says will continue to do its best to serve everyone.
鈥淲e also have a fund that can help to maybe write off the cost in certain situations, if there is any sort of unsafe situation for example, we might really lean on our community funders to help our patients out," Steward says.
Those who back the new federal rule that precipitated Planned Parenthood鈥檚 decision to drop out of the program blame the organization for its decision. Mike Gonidakis is president of Ohio Right to Life.
鈥淭hey could still be seeing these people today yet they choose to make sure they are focused on the abortion side of their business, which is their biggest money maker, instead of the others. Now, fortunately for the rest of us, there are hundreds and hundreds of community health centers, local departments of health, minute clinics in every Kroger, Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, there are plenty of options for women," Gonidakis says.
Planned Parenthood鈥檚 Susan Quinn disputes that. She says many patients seen at the organization鈥檚 clinic will have nowhere else to go.
鈥淵ou know, Planned Parenthood clinics see 64% of the patients statewide that receive Title X funds. 64% so hold that number in your head. We are only 21% of the locations that get Title X funds so we see most of the patients but we are about only 20% of the locations," Quinn says.
Planned Parenthood is encouraging political action. It is hoping low income people who used to rely on the organization but cannot afford or access key healthcare services now will make their voices heard at the polls in November 2020.
