Women’s health care access will be a key issue in the 2012 election, said Amy Taylor, the political director of Planned Parenthood, at an event hosted by AU College Democrats and Women’s Initiative Nov. 2.
Taylor spoke about the Congress members who have aimed to defund Planned Parenthood and discussed the organization’s goals for the 2012 election cycle.
“We know that it’s a winning issue for women because they actually care about access to health care and they care about their reproductive futures,” she said.
About a third of Planned Parenthood’s budget is covered by federal funds that cover birth control for low-income women, breast and cervical cancer screenings and testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, according to the organization’s 2008-2009 annual report. Private donors and health center incomes cover the remainder of its budget.
In 2010, the federal government provided about $75 million in funding to Planned Parenthood, according to the 2010 Financial Report of the U.S. Government. Taylor said the organization’s overall budget was about $1 billion this year.
In February 2011, the organization was caught up in a funding debate, with some anti-abortion members of Congress arguing that Planned Parenthood should be stripped of federal funding because it provides abortion services, according to C-SPAN transcripts of House proceedings.Federal money cannot be used for abortions under the Hyde Amendment, a provision attached to annual appropriations bills that cover health care funding, and federal funding to Planned Parenthood goes toward health services other than abortion, according to the organization’s website.
Although a last-minute budget deal in the Senate ensured the organization still received federal funds, Taylor said she expects anti-abortion politicians will go after Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights in 2012.
Elected officials have introduced bills that aim to restrict Planned Parenthood’s funding, and go after not only abortion services but also other services, including health screenings and contraceptives, Taylor said.
“What we are really facing this year is an unprecedented attack,” she said. “We have people who have worked at Planned Parenthood for over 40 years who’ve never seen anything like this.”
Chris Litchfield, the president of AU Democrats and a junior in the School of Public Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences, said his group wanted to bring Planned Parenthood to campus because abortion is a politically charged issue.
“After all the attacks on Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights in general, we wanted to bring Planned Parenthood to campus to tell their side of the story and kind of tell some of the horror stories they’ve experienced,” Litchfield said.
It is also an issue Litchfield thinks college students care about.
“They see it from a public health view or even personal experiences, they see the importance of having this family planning, free service to help low-income and college students,” he said.
Planned Parenthood’s 2012 political goals include re-electing President Barack Obama and senators that support reproductive rights, Taylor said.
“If you’re going to vote against basic women’s healthcare, we’re going to take you out,” she said. “We’re going to be a political organization and engage our six million supporters and you’re going to be answerable to us.”
Planned Parenthood is preparing to face anti-abortion state ballot initiatives, notably Mississippi’s “Personhood” amendment, which is on the ballot this November. If passed, the bill would change the definition of personhood in the state legislature to be defined as beginning at conception, Taylor said.
“The more that we can talk about these extreme attacks on women, unprecedented in this generation, the better off we’re going to be,” she said.
Litchfield said he hoped the event would inspire students to get involved off campus, even if it is against AU policy for clubs, including AU Democrats, to directly engage in political work.
“We hope people learn a little bit and feel engaged,” Taylor said. “It’s great to see speakers. But at the end of the day, I hope people walk away from this event thinking how can I get involved, how can I do more, how can we keeping fighting to protect these basic health concerns that we have.”
AU Students for Life, AU Students for Choice and AU College Republicans did not respond to requests for comment before press time.
