2nd Chance for Family Planning?

After much haggling, there are finally serious discussions between Gov. George Deukmejian and legislative leaders about restoring to family planning clinics $25 million cut by the governor from the budget. But Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) has said that the governor wants to release the money in a way that none of it would be used for abortion counseling. Now that a compromise is under consideration, we hope that the governor and legislators do not derail it by pursuing an ill-advised assault on the obligation of family planners to tell a woman about all of her reproductive choices.

The state’s informed consent law, as well as family planning statutes, require that all family planning options be presented to a patient. That means that all birth control methods and their risks and benefits must be explained. And it means that if a woman is pregnant and she asks about her choices, she must be informed about all legal avenues, including adoption and abortion. In addition, legal experts say the state Constitution should prohibit restrictions on what a family planner could tell a patient about her options.

Already, in a decision earlier this year, a federal appeals court in Boston ruled as a violation of free speech the Reagan Administration’s attempt last year to forbid federally funded family planning clinics to counsel women that abortion is a medical option in dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.

There have been suggestions that the behind-the-scenes budget maneuvering over this issue may have more to do with the governor’s and some legislators’ displeasure over how some specific family planning agencies have handled their tasks. The County Supervisors Assn. of California has indicated a willingness to let the counties administer the family planning program, although the counties believe that the state is still best suited to run it. At the very least there must be guidelines in place that will ensure a statewide standard so that the quality of family planning services does not vary wildly among the 58 counties.

The fate of the family planning clinics is likely to be decided before the Legislature adjourns Sept. 15. In Los Angeles County, these clinics help as many as 170,000 women, primarily poor ones who are the most at risk for undetected gynecological diseases and unplanned pregnancies. Studies have already shown that the state would save $11 for every $1 spent on family planning. Such fiscal good sense should outweigh other considerations.