Patients face higher fees and longer waits after Planned Parenthood quits federal program
The agency forfeited millions after refusing to comply with what it calls a Trump administration ‘gag rule’ regarding abortion referrals.
By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Sheila Regan
August 24, 2019
In Cleveland, a Planned Parenthood mobile clinic that tests for sexually transmitted diseases has reduced its hours and may shut down. In Minneapolis, women and girls used to free check-ups are now billed as much as $200 per visit on a sliding fee scale. And in Vienna, West Va., Planned Parenthood employees are marking boxes of birth control pills with “Do not use” signs because they were paid for with federal grants the organization can no longer accept.
Planned Parenthood’s decision this week to quit a $260 million federal family planning program rather than comply with what it calls a “gag rule” imposed by the Trump administration on abortion referrals is creating turmoil in many low-income communities across the United States.