Countywide : Budget Cuts Blamed for Rise in Abortions

Planned Parenthood officials said Thursday that they believe that more poor women in Orange County are getting pregnant--and most likely are having more abortions--as a result of drastic cuts in state aid to family planning programs.

The number of women coming to family planning clinics in Orange County for pregnancy tests increased by 25% during the second half of last year after Gov. George Deukmejian cut funding for family planning programs, Planned Parenthood officials said.

Planned Parenthood released the figures at a news conference held to register opposition to the governor’s latest budget proposal, which would again hold state spending for family planning assistance to $12 million--a third of what statewide spending was two years ago, said Margie Fites Seigle, executive director of Orange County Planned Parenthood.

“When people do not have access to birth control there are going to be more unintended pregnancies . . . ,” Seigle said. “And we believe that leads to more abortions. It’s a snowball effect.” The cuts in family planning assistance have been more severe in Orange County than elsewhere in the state, according to Seigle. Funding here dropped by 73%, down from $2 million annually to $550,000, according to Planned Parenthood figures.

Family planning clinics here, which primarily serve lower-income women, have had to reduce services: The average wait for an appointment is now three to five weeks instead of three to five days, Seigle said.

From July to November, 1988, 1,321 women requested pregnancy tests from state-funded family planning clinics in Orange County. During the same period last year, after the cuts took effect, the number rose to 1,645, according to Planned Parenthood.

Anti-abortion activists, who urged the governor to cut funding for family assistance programs because such programs may make abortion referrals, questioned Planned Parenthood’s findings.

“I wouldn’t know whether those are correct statistics and what they mean,” said Beverly Cielnicky, a Fountain Valley resident and national president of the Crusade for Life. “It could mean they (Planned Parenthood officials) are spending a lot more for advertising.”

Both sides said they intend to make family planning aid an issue in the Legislature this year.