Planned Parenthood Rejects 'Urban Legend' On Community Health Centers Could Do Its Job

By Will Stone
Published: Monday, March 20, 2017 - 5:05am
Updated: Monday, March 20, 2017 - 7:29am

Representatives of Planned Parenthood in Arizona say the Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act will hurt women, especially those who are low-income.

The American Health Care Act would prevent those on Arizona’s Medicaid program from going to Planned Parenthood for any health care. A common refrain from critics of the organization, including Congresswoman Martha McSally of Tucson, has been those funds should go to community health centers, instead.

But Jodi Liggett with Planned Parenthood Arizona called that an "urban legend."

“We have great respect for community health centers. We really do very different things, and we are both really critical to the patient safety-net,” Liggett said.

She said four of their 11 locations are in federally defined medically underserved areas.

Kurt Sheppard, who runs the community health center Valle del Sol, said he agrees with Liggett.

“There is overlap, but there are critical services they provide that we don’t want to do ... that’s just the fact of the matter,” Sheppard said.

Under the Republican legislation, factoring in the cost of unintended births, direct spending by Medicaid would decrease by about $156 million in the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office's analysis.