Letter to the Editor: Planned Parenthood defunding will be costly

Originally posted by the Albany Times Union

For a century, doctors, clinicians and staff at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country have opened their doors and cared for patients. They answer the questions that patients can't or don't want to ask anyone else, and they give accurate, unbiased information that is needed to make some of the most important decisions that will ever be made about their health and lives.

If politicians defund Planned Parenthood, they won't be striking a line from the federal budget. Far from it in fact, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that defunding Planned Parenthood would cost taxpayers $130 million over 10 years.

Planned Parenthood, like every other doctor's office or hospital, is reimbursed for the care it provides to patients who rely on public health programs like Medicaid. That means the people who would be most hurt are those already struggling to get by and those who already face barriers to accessing health care, especially people of color, people with low incomes and people who live in rural areas. For many of these patients, there is nowhere else to go for care.

Patients don't go to Planned Parenthood to make a political statement. They go for compassionate, affordable, high-quality health care. Every person, no matter who they are or how much money they make, deserves that kind of care. We cannot allow politicians to take it away.

Carolyn M. Ehrlich

Albany

Letter to the Editor: Patients deserve good health care

(FILES) This file photo taken on August 5, 2010 shows a pregnant woman walking outside the State Department in Washington, DC. Morning sickness is linked to a lower risk of miscarriage, according to research out September 26, 2016 that suggests a woman's nausea and vomiting early in pregnancy may have protective effects for the fetus. Between 50 and 80 percent of pregnant women report feeling nauseous or throwing up during their first trimester, said the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. 

Originally posted by the Times Union

Published 4:14 pm, Saturday, May 13, 2017

Photo: TIMOTHY SLOAN

As a health care provider in Albany, I know firsthand that Planned Parenthood health centers are a necessary resource. Without Planned Parenthood's care, the health of thousands of people across the state is at stake. Many of the patients I serve have nowhere else to turn for proper health care or education. I see people every day who rely on our health centers for preventive services like birth control, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, and cancer screenings.

I've consoled the fearful and spoke honestly and compassionately with the frustrated. I've celebrated the overcoming of fears — from getting vital test results to having a pelvic exam. I've rejoiced in the pride of being able to make an informed decision — about things from birth control to treatment options.

This is care that people deserve and these are services that public health experts say cannot be absorbed elsewhere if Planned Parenthood is defunded. The Senate needs to block any attempt to attack the care Planned Parenthood provides to thousands of people in New York state and here in Albany.

Brianna Samson

Slingerlands