RICHMOND — The Senate Feb. 14 narrowly passed a bill to
curtail funding for Planned Parenthood and other health centers that perform
abortions.
The Senate voted 20-19 along party lines in favor of HB
2264, sponsored by Del. Benjamin Cline, R-Amherst.
The bill states that the Virginia Department of Health
“shall not enter into a contract with, or make a grant to, any entity that
performs abortions that are not federally qualified abortions or maintains or
operates a facility where non-federally qualified abortions are performed.”
That means the state would cut off funds for organizations
that offer abortions that are not eligible for matching funds under Medicaid.
This would include any abortion outside of cases of rape, incest or “gross
fetal anomalies.”
Essentially, the bill would shift funding from the five
Planned Parenthood clinics in Virginia to federally funded hospitals and rural
clinics.
The House passed the legislation Feb. 7. With the Senate’s
approval, the bill now goes to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who has said he will veto
the measure.
Paulette McElwain, CEO of the Virginia League for Planned
Parenthood, said the bill represents the state-level version of a national
vendetta to defund Planned Parenthood.
“We are, of course, very disheartened that members of the
Senate have turned their backs on underserved women of Virginia,” McElwain
said. “This bill specifically targets Planned Parenthood and, if passed into
law, would undermine the health of thousands of our patients who count on us
for comprehensive care.”
McElwain said that as a result of the legislation, “Virginia
women would no longer have access to free STI (sexually transmitted infections)
testing, a subsidized service utilized by nearly 2,000 of our patients last
year.”
Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of
Virginia, said “apologists for abortion centers” incorrectly blamed Cline’s
bill for endangering women’s health.
“Virginia has a duty to steward taxpayer money in a way that
ensures funds are distributed by priority to the most effective
point-of-service health-care providers,” Cobb said. “This legislation simply
ensures that hospitals, federally qualified health clinics and rural health
clinics are funded over abortion centers.”
She said that more than 140 federally qualified and rural
clinics in Virginia offer comprehensive services to women and that many of them
are in areas where Planned Parenthood doesn’t have clinics.
