Press Release |

President Trump’s budget proposal endangers Americans’ health

After President Trump released a budget that would continue to attack the health care of millions of Americans, Board Chair of Physicians for Reproductive Health Dr. Willie Parker issued the following statement:

“Budgets are moral documents. Dismantling services that keep millions of Americans healthy reveals this administration’s shameful priorities. By asking Congress to once more attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, to allow states to add work requirements for Medicaid, and to defund Planned Parenthood, the President’s budget is another way his administration continues to target the well-being of women and families, low-income patients, communities of color, and LGBTQ communities.

Medical professionals like myself implore the administration to put patient health first. Work to improve the health inequities that we see every day—start addressing maternal mortality rates, improving access to preventive services, and breaking down barriers to essential services, including safe abortion care.”

Board Chair Willie J. Parker, MD, MPH, MSc, is a reproductive justice advocate who travels as an abortion provider in Alabama and Georgia. He also was recently honored by the United Nations Office of Human Rights as one of 12 Women’s Human Rights Defenders on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women. He is also a recipient of Planned Parenthood’s 2015 Margaret Sanger Award.

Dr. Parker joined the Physicians for Reproductive Health board in November 2007 and is the current Chair.