Today patients, advocates, and supporters of Planned Parenthood Southeastern PA delivered over 2,500 petitions to city officials requesting funding for sexual and reproductive health care at Planned Parenthood’s two Philadelphia health centers.
After requesting direct funding in this year’s budget process, the final budget did not include any support for the health centers. This coincided with the federal defunding attacks on Planned Parenthood ended Medicaid reimbursement for services.
“The 20,000 patients of Planned Parenthood health centers in the City of Philadelphia have been abandoned by not only the federal government – but also the leaders closest to them right here in Philadelphia,” said Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania VP of Advocacy and Public Policy, Signe Espinoza. “Without immediate support, care will become dangerously inaccessible –life-saving care that spans from contraceptive care to cancer screenings. It is the poorest Philadelphians who will be the most harmed from this preventable crisis of health care access. We are asking our city leaders to stand up to protect public health by restoring funding for Planned Parenthood to the City budget. The Medicaid defunding of Planned Parenthood is an additional attack on our communities’ access to basic and critically needed health care.”
The petition can be read online here.
Today is also the anniversary of the landmark and now-repealed Roe v. Wade decision, which was the foundation of nationwide access to abortion care. Since this decision, more than 20 states have banned abortion entirely, and many others have enacted restrictions to make abortion functionally inaccessible.
“Honoring Roe means defending what is now under attack,” Espinoza continued. “The most meaningful way for Philadelphia to mark this day is by standing up for the health care that continues to be stripped away and protecting the providers who continue to show up for their patients, no matter what.”