Nothing to Gain, Everything to Lose

Why is it that the most vocal opponents of abortion are also vehemently against family planning?

Why is it that Congress is considering legislation that would effectively de-fund family planning efforts in clinics across America when studies show that for every dollar of family planning money spent, $4.40 is saved?

The answer can be stated in two words: Christian Coalition.

Budget fights don’t have the immediacy of rent flesh and leaping flames. Murders and clinic firebombings are far more likely than funding fights to grab the public’s attention. So it is likely you haven’t heard about the current attempt to choke off a successful, 25-year-old family planning program, which, in bureaucratese is known as Title X of the Public Health Services Act.

If congressional conservatives--prodded by the religious right--have their way, thousands of low-income American women will pay a very steep price. They will be denied access to services that keep them healthy and allow them to control their reproductive fates.

On the surface, this is not an abortion issue. The dollars allocated under Title X--about $190 million a year--are forbidden by law to be spent on abortion. The money subsidizes birth control, pelvic and breast exams, screenings for cervical cancer, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and prenatal care. Since its enactment during the Nixon Administration, Title X has given millions of low-income women access to basic health services they would otherwise not receive.

In truth, the issue is very much about abortion, very much about reproductive self-determination and very much an attempt by the Christian Coalition to demonize an institution that has served and educated Americans about family planning for decades: Planned Parenthood.

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This summer, the Christian Coalition’s Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed sent members a sample “urgent letter” to be copied and sent to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich:

“I urge you in the strongest possible terms to introduce legislation immediately to end all federal funding for Planned Parenthood,” went the letter.

“Planned Parenthood wants America to believe it is a respectable organization whose sole purpose is to reduce teen pregnancies through education. This is a deception. Actually, Planned Parenthood, with its $443-million annual budget, is one of the Left’s most powerful organizations.”

Planned Parenthood receives $33 million in Title X funds. On my desk is an information kit from its local affiliate, outlining its mission and the services it provides:

“Planned Parenthood Los Angeles believes in the fundamental right of each individual throughout the world to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual’s income, marital status, age, national origin or residence. We believe that reproductive self-determination must be voluntary and preserve the individual’s right to privacy. We further believe that such self-determination will contribute to an enhancement of strong family relationships, quality of life and population stability.”

Suellen Craig, executive director of PPLA, says that 95% of her $8-million annual budget ($460,000 of which comes from the Title X pot) is devoted to prevention: prevention of unintended pregnancy, of abortion, of disease.

Last year, PPLA’s 10 clinics (and one mobile unit) served nearly 40,000 patients. Fewer than 15,000 of those were teens.

But why let the facts stand in the way of a good hit piece?

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In the shadow of the mammoth white structures of beleaguered County-USC Medical Center in East L.A. squats a small, tidy Planned Parenthood clinic.

“The women we see here have two health-care providers,” Craig says. “Us and emergency rooms.”

There has been no good news at all lately on this score: First, county supervisors were asked to consider closing County-USC; now they are being asked to shutter health clinics instead.

Either scenario is bad news for the poor and would result in a higher load for this little clinic.

“The funding pot is shrinking, the patient load is growing,” Craig says.

And so you might think this an odd time for Congress to consider killing its commitment to family planning. According to one 1990 study, public money invested in these services saves taxpayers an estimated $1.8 billion a year in funds that would otherwise be spent on the medical, nutritional and welfare costs of unplanned pregnancies.

The Christian Coalition can make whatever preposterous claims it wants about Planned Parenthood.

But it can’t change this simple truth: The fewer dollars we devote to family planning now, the more we spend on unwanted pregnancies later.

Taxpayers surely won’t thank their legislators for that.