Melissa Ross
In an email to supporters and media outlets, the Florida Family Policy Council is urging Governor Rick Scott to follow Texas’ lead in defunding Planned Parenthood in the state.
“Texas has done exactly what we are asking Governor Rick Scott to do in Florida: namely completely defunding Planned Parenthood and stopping any more taxpayer funds from going to Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider,” said John Stemberger, President and General Counsel of the Orlando-based social conservative group.
“Planned Parenthood’s termination as a Medicaid provider would not affect access to care in Florida, as it will not in Texas, because there are thousands of federally qualified health clinics, Medicaid-certified rural health clinics, and other providers across the state that provide quality healthcare to Medicaid patients.”
Stemberger says he wants Scott to take executive action to terminate Florida’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood, and terminate the subcontracts of Title X funds with Broward and Collier Counties.
Last week, Texas became the sixth state to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving state Medicaid money. It’s the latest setback for the women’s healthcare provider since it became embroiled in controversy over undercover videos about its handling of fetal tissue.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is one of several Republican governors who have moved to strip the organization’s government funding since the issue erupted. Planned Parenthood denies allegations that it illegally sells fetal tissue for profit, saying the videos that have been released were deceptively edited. According to the organization, of Planned Parenthood’s nearly 700 health centers nationwide, only two — one in California and one in Washington State — supply fetal tissue to researchers, and only the one in California has been getting reimbursed.
Also this month, federal judge in Louisiana temporarily blocked efforts by Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican presidential candidate, to cut off funds to Planned Parenthood clinics in the Bayou State.
“Governor Rick Scott has the clear legal authority to terminate Medicaid contracts with unqualified providers of services, and he now also has a moral, ethical and fiscal duty to do so given Planned Parenthood’s egregious conduct which includes waste, abuse, and potential fraud,” said Stemberger. “In both his gubernatorial campaigns, Rick Scott campaigned that if elected he would be a pro-life Governor. We would now like him to take action like a pro-life Governor.”
Stemberger sent a letter requesting action to the Governor and his office.
According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, Planned Parenthood affiliates in Florida received only $122,000 from Medicaid payments in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. There were also nearly $1.12 million in federal grants handed to Planned Parenthood last year for sexual education and teenage pregnancy prevention programs.
Scott opposes abortion, and has signed several bills supported by anti-abortion groups, including one this year to require a 24-hour waiting period. He has also ordered an investigation of Planned Parenthood.
