“We should be lauding physicians and clinicians who are on the front lines providing reproductive health care, not punishing the most vulnerable patients they care for.”
New York, NY—The United States Senate is again considering legislation that would prevent Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest reproductive health care provider, from serving Medicaid patients.
Physicians for Reproductive Health Reproductive Health Advocacy Fellow Dr. Pratima Gupta said:
“This past weekend, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs was the target of a vicious attack. We should be lauding physicians and clinicians who are on the front lines providing reproductive health care, not punishing the most vulnerable patients for whom they care. It is high time for this ongoing attempt to discredit reproductive health care providers and to make it harder for my colleagues and me to provide safe, legal care to our patients to end. I am dismayed at the Senate for moving this forward at all, and to do it so soon after three people were killed using the rhetoric that we have seen throughout the fall on Capitol Hill is shocking and downright disrespectful.
“Millions of people each year receive critical lifesaving care from Planned Parenthood, including birth control, cancer screening, and abortion care. Planned Parenthood provides services that patients may not be able to access or afford elsewhere. If supporters of this legislation truly cared about the health of women and families, they would support programs like Title X that increase access to affordable preventive care through trusted health care providers like Planned Parenthood.
“Abortion opponents want to vilify and discredit my friends and colleagues who provide this care by stripping their reimbursement. This was wrong when it started this summer and is even more horrific today. Providers work in an atmosphere of intimidation and harassment and they continue their work because their conscience compels them to do so. It is time for Congress to stand up for these health care providers instead of maligning them. We strongly oppose any attempts to undermine the provision of quality, essential family planning services to all. Doctors and patients need compassion and support, now more than ever.”