Despite Missouri’s sweeping abortion ban, some Republicans are still attacking Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid reimbursements.
Multiple bills attempt to block funding to abortion-affiliated facilities, like Planned Parenthood, from different avenues.
One would prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements and another would create a constitutional amendment to stop all Medicaid reimbursements from going to the facility, with voter approval. A third zeroes out funding for Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood in the budget.
Similar attempts to cut reimbursements to Planned Parenthood have been struck down by the Cole County Circuit Court as recently as December, after the legislature approved zeroing out the facility’s Medicaid reimbursements in March 2022. Another attempt to cut Medicaid reimbursements through the budget was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2020.
Planned Parenthood provides services like pap smears, STD testing, birth control and other reproductive and preventative health care for Medicaid patients, according to the organization’s website. Even before Roe v. Wade was struck down, abortion services weren’t covered by Medicaid, except in cases of rape, incest or if the patient’s life was in danger.
“There are no Planned Parenthoods in Missouri that are providing abortion care. Instead, so many Missourians rely on Planned Parenthood for non-abortion, essential sexual and reproductive health care,” said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri, an organization advocating for reproductive rights in Missouri.
Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican, sponsored the bill to create a constitutional amendment preventing all public funds from going to Planned Parenthood with voter approval. He said despite Missouri’s abortion ban, organizations like Planned Parenthood have facilities across the country. The organization operates clinics in bordering Kansas and Illinois, which offer abortion services, for example
“By supporting one of them, I do believe that supports the network of these organizations, maybe elsewhere,” Eigel said. “I want to make sure that it’s in our constitution, that the people of this state are simply not going to support public monies going to any institution that supports the institution of abortion.”
Eigel said he was opposed to attempting to cut reimbursements through the budget because it has not worked in the past.
“We’re going to put it in the founding document of our state, that it’s not okay to use public taxpayer money for anybody that may be supporting or executing abortions, anywhere they may do business,” Eigel said.
Emily Wales, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which covers the Kansas City metro, said the bills are about control, and don’t prioritize the health of people who need their services.
Wales said they have ways to keep seeing patients if funding is cut off, but it would have a chilling effect on patients if Planned Parenthood stops accepting Medicaid. She said they may delay seeking care, and that is the most worrisome part for her.
The idea that the bills are about abortion is a distraction, Wales said, and the GOP is opposed to people making independent, private medical decisions. It isn’t just Planned Parenthood, she said, it also extends to the attempts to limit gender affirming care.
“At the end of the day, when the legislature doesn’t understand something, or is critical of it, They attempt to block care. They attempt to withdraw funding,” Wales said. “And all it ends up doing is hurting Missourians who are the most in need of support.”
Sam Lee, a longtime anti-abortion lobbyist and director of Campaign Life Missouri, said he isn’t sure any of the bills will pass this session, but he certainly supports preventing any money from going to Planned Parenthood.
“That’s something that the pro-life movement has been fighting for for years,” Lee said. “And it’s not a new battle, it’s been going on forever.”
Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, said Republicans are strong in their conviction, but they are not in alignment with the majority of Missourians.
According to an August 2022 poll by Saint Louis University and British pollster YouGov, 58% of those surveyed supported a woman’s right to an abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy. In cases of rape, 75% of those surveyed agreed a woman should be able to get an abortion, and 79% supported it in cases of incest.
The poll was conducted between Aug. 8 and 16 and surveyed 900 likely Missouri voters, with a 3.75% margin of error.
“I think they recognize that their position is wildly unpopular. With that being said, our committee hearing did devote an entire committee session to hearing bills on outlawing something that is already banned in Missouri,” Arthur said.
Arthur said she is concerned there will be a push to undermine access to birth control in the next few years.
Schwarz, the executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri, said it is not a coincidence that the continued attacks on Planned Parenthood and access to abortions are happening at the same time as attacks on transgender people and the initiative petition process.
“Republicans see the writing on the wall, they know that abortion access is popular, that Planned Parenthood is popular, and that public support for LGBTQ communities is growing around the country,” Schwarz said. “So these attacks are a backlash against the popular support of these issues.”
Without Planned Parenthood, Schwarz said other safety set providers will not be able to fill the gap in care. She said those who rely on Medicaid in Missouri are low-income and surviving paycheck to paycheck. She said they are disproportionately people of color, people with disabilities and members of the LBGTQ community.
Robert Fischer, a spokesperson for PROMO Missouri, an organization advocating for LGBTQ rights, said Planned Parenthood has provided a safe space for the LGBTQ community to get access to health care.
“It’s a basic need, it’s really providing people the ability to thrive in Missouri, and any type of legislation that tries to take away funding is ensuring that LGBTQ Missourians cannot thrive within our state,” Fischer said.
