Arizona Republican lawmakers are calling for legislation next year to "defund" Planned Parenthood.
The only state funding that can currently pay for women’s health services at Planned Parenthood is through Medicaid. Arizona matches 10 cents out of every federal dollar. A 2012 state law sought to exclude a provider that also offers abortions from using that Medicaid money for family planning purposes, but that was eventually overturned by a federal court.
Still, Senate President Andy Biggs, and several of his republican colleagues, said they will introduce a bill targeting that revenue stream again.
"Planned Parenthood, regardless of what they claim, it appears, anyway, that they are subsidizing their abortion services because they can't segregate all the money they get from Medicaid and state and federal tax dollars from regular services to their abortion services,'' Biggs said.
Biggs said they have not finished drafting the legislation yet.
Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said the only state funding for women's health services comes from those Medicaid matching dollars.
Of Planned Parenthood's 35,000 patients last year, he said only about 5 percent used Medicaid, and they were low-income.
“This is a population that needs as much support in accessing this healthcare as possible and not having road blocks put in front of them,” Howard said.
Medicaid does not provide reimbursement for abortions, except in the case of rape, incest or a pregnancy threatening the life of the mother.
State Representative Warren Peterson was one of the other Republicans who said he would introduce the legislation with Biggs.
“We need to send a strong message that harvesting the body parts of aborted babies will not be tolerated," he said.
But Howard said Planned Parenthood Arizona has never participated in the donation of fetal tissue under any circumstances and any suggestion otherwise comes from the "Carly Fiorina playbook where she is repeating an accusation that has been disproved."
