Jennifer Taylor, an Overland Park senior, began going to Planned Parenthood when she started college at age 18 for all her personal needs.
“My boyfriend and I had been dating a year, and my Mom refused to get me birth control,” says Taylor, “So when I was old enough I took it upon myself to go and take care of myself.”
Now Taylor receives her yearly checkup through Planned Parenthood and any other healthcare need she might have. However, recently Planned Parent of Kansas City and Mid-Missouri (PPKM) has fallen under hard times financially due to several anti-choice Legislators who want to keep family planning funds away from Planned Parenthood. PPKM has now had to raise some of its prices, because of the immense amount of energy and money that has been spent in court trying to protect women’s rights.
“We want to give our customers the best care they can receive, and in the past we have prided ourselves on being the most affordable, having to raise the prices even a little has been very disheartening,” said Lori Blank, vice president of clinical services.
Planned Parenthood helps women with all private needs from checkups to counseling, offering several educational seminars for young boys and girls and offering abortions at some clinics. The mission statement of planned parenthood is as follows:
“ To ensure that every individual has the knowledge, opportunity and freedom to make informed private decisions about reproductive and sexual health.”
However, even with the best intentions PPKM clinics have been under intense scrutiny and had to undergo tremendous hardships in order to keep offering their services to the public. In 2005 Former Attorney General Phil Kline began a campaign to discredit PPKM and stop them from offering several methods of pregnancy prevention to women in Kansas. Kline claimed that Planned Parenthood was providing unlawful abortion services and violating certain reporting requirements regarding victims of abuse. After a three-year legal battle and thousands of dollars spent defending and keeping clinics open, the new Attorney General Paul Morrison has made the decision to dismiss the investigation started by Kline. This is just one instance of hardship that PPKM has had to face, and was lucky enough to resolve it without much incident.
“Phil Kline has spend years wasting taxpayer money pursuing his extremist ideological agenda. Now that these allegations have been discredited, we look forward to redoubling our efforts to address the healthcare needs of the community,” said Peter Brownlie, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, at a press conference in late June.
It has become apparent, however, the years of legal expenses and stress on the corporation, which is funded mainly by donations, has left it’s toll on PPKM. Several resources have been depleted and prices have risen for certain services. The price of the morning after pill has gone up to $30 from $20, and a yearly set of birth control pills is now $25 more expensive.
“If it not one thing it’s the next. As soon as something is settled, someone else throws a curve-ball right at us, it really drains enthusiasm and moral when you always feel like your on the defense and in reality your just trying to help people,” said Sheila Kostas, the public affairs coordinator for PPKM.
Raising prices puts people like Johnson and other people with low socio-economic status at a major risk of losing the ability to provide themselves with quality care and education.
“It’s said to think that people are so anti-choice they can’t even see the other really important things that Planned Parenthood does for people,” said Taylor, “Abortions are just a fraction of the services that Planned Parenthood provides, I can only hope that there are enough people who support good, quality healthcare and people will keep donating.”
PPKM is very proud to be able to give basic health services, such as a well-women exam, to women under the poverty line free of charge. Last year 50% of the people treated at a PPKM clinic received care at a reduced rate or were unable to pay at all. 75% of patients that use Planned Parenthood services are uninsured.
“It’s for the uninsured in Kansas and Missouri that PPKM helps the most, raising the prices of our services just puts those people’s health in jeopardy,” said Blank.
Now Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri is facing another threat to their organization. A newly proposed House Bill no. 1055 is requiring all health centers that provide more than five abortions a month to be labeled as surgical center. This bill intends to shut down at least two health clinics in Missouri. Although this legislation would not affect any clinics in Kansas it is the same affiliate and pocketbook.
“This onerous legislation has nothing to do with protecting women’s health and safety. This is a blatant attempt to close down clinics and deny women their right to health care,” said Browlie in August, “...the law should be declared unconstitutional because is it unreasonable, burdensome and discriminates against abortion providers.”
Planned Parenthood has asked for an injunction to stop the state law from being enforced until the court decides whether the law is constitutional. All these setbacks add to the frustration and stress on the corporation’s staff, CEOs and financial planners. The PPKM website has made it a priority to educate it’s supports and clients of the threats against a woman’s right to choose and what the public can do to help.
“To us, as a company and healthcare provider, we just want to give the good reliable service at an affordable price. Hopefully with the help of the community and the State we can move forward and continue to serve the public as well as we have in the past,” said Kostas.
For more information about Planned Parenthood of Kansas City and Mid-Missouri, visit these websites:
www.ppmissouri.org
www.pkm.org