HIV Community Supports Planned Parenthood

March 23, 2017

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, House Speaker Ryan, and House Minority Leader Pelosi,

As advocates committed to winning the fight against HIV/AIDS, the undersigned XX organizations write to urge you not to block patients from accessing critical, federally-supported sexual and reproductive health care and information from Planned Parenthood.

For 100 years, Planned Parenthood has been an essential source of compassionate health care in the United States. Planned Parenthood health centers across the country provide lifesaving primary and preventive care, including cancer screenings, birth control, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment to 2.5 million people every year – nearly half of whom are people of color, and many people who live in rural areas.

As a part of its commitment to providing the highest quality care, Planned Parenthood also provides HIV education, prevention, testing, and linkage to care. In 2014 alone, Planned Parenthood provided over 650,000 HIV tests. And increasingly, Planned Parenthood health centers in many communities are a source of comprehensive HIV prevention, including counseling and providing evidence-based innovative prevention options like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for individuals at high risk. Unfortunately, we already know what happens when communities are stripped of access to HIV testing and information. After state budget cuts forced the local Planned Parenthood health center in Scott County, Indiana, to shut its doors in 2013, the community was left with nowhere to turn for testing and education. The county subsequently faced an unprecedented HIV outbreak, which then-Governor Mike Pence deemed an epidemic.

We strongly oppose the stated goals of Congressional leadership to use the budget reconciliation process to bar Medicaid patients across the country from using their coverage to access care from Planned Parenthood health centers. This is not the first time that Planned Parenthood has been targeted by politicians who want to block access to vital health care services and shut down health centers. If these politicians were to succeed, it would be a public health disaster. Experts agree that other safety net health care providers – many of whom already face significant challenges meeting existing demand – could not successfully absorb the flood of patients defunding Planned Parenthood would cause. Many patients would have nowhere else to turn for care.

The American people overwhelmingly support Planned Parenthood and strongly oppose “defunding” care at Planned Parenthood health centers, with19 separate nationwide polls showing strong support for Planned Parenthood and strong opposition to defunding efforts. Like the American public, the HIV community knows the powerful impact Planned Parenthood has in serving rural, low-income communities, and communities of color. So we urge the 115th Congress to support the millions of patients who depend on vital care from Planned Parenthood health centers. We ask that you see these politically motivated attacks for what they are – an attempt to take basic health care and self-determination away from millions of people.

Sincerely,