Courts Block Planned Parenthood
From Accepting Medicaid in Arkansas
Social welfare policy, as defined in Social Welfare: Politics and Public Policy (8th edition), is “anything a government chooses to do, or not do, that affects the quality of life of its people” (DiNotto & Johnson, 2016, p.2). Hannah Levintova, a reporter in Mother Jones’ DC bureau, wrote an article entitled “Courts Everywhere Said Women Can Use Medicaid at Planned Parenthood. This One Just Ruled They Can’t”. This article is a summary of how, on August 16, 2017, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state of Arkansas could withhold Medicaid funds from the women’s health care provider, Planned Parenthood. Medicaid is a public assistance program that has provided low-income American families and individuals with funding for medical and health-related services for over half a century. For nearly twice as long, Planned Parenthood has provided individuals with reproductive health care in the United States and globally. This August 16th ruling is, quite literally, a choice made by the government that is affecting the quality of life of its people. Essentially, this ruling allows the state of Arkansas to block Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood. This will prevent Medicaid recipients from utilizing Planned Parenthood to obtain lifesaving care including, but not limited to, birth control, cancer screenings, reproductive health services and sexual education.
The social problem directly addressed by this Arkansas ruling is that of abortion. The policymakers feel that abortion is a problem that needs to be fixed, and they are attempting to do so by making it more difficult for publicly funded organizations like Planned Parenthood to provide abortions. This ruling in Arkansas stems from a nationwide desire to defund Planned Parenthood in an attempt to put an end to abortions. The problem, is that doing so would deprive many low-income citizens from much needed services. For example, individuals seek birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancies. In 2014, publicly funded family planning services helped women prevent nearly 2 million unintended pregnancies, and about 1 million unplanned births, as reported by the Guttmacher Institute. Prevention of unplanned pregnancies and in turn, unplanned births, allowed those individuals to have more control over their health and careers. In 2010, publicly funded family planning services prevented an estimated 288,000 unplanned births that would have occurred less than 18 months after a previous birth, spaced more closely than is medically recommended; 164,000 of those births would have been preterm, low birth weight or both. Basically, access to safe and affordable birth control keeps people who do not want babies from having babies, which would eventually put added strain on the economy. In addition to improving women’s economic security, maintaining eligibility for family planning programs saves taxpayers $15.5 billion annually in avoiding unintended pregnancies. This means that taxpayers save $7 for every dollar invested in family planning (Guttmacher Institute 2015). Further examples of services citizens would lose include STI testing and cancer screenings. The Guttmacher Institute’s findings also show that in 2010, STI testing at publicly supported centers prevented 99,000 chlamydia infections, 16,000 gonorrhea infections, 410 HIV infections, 1,100 ectopic pregnancies and 2,200 cases of infertility. Pap smears, HPV tests and HPV vaccinations at these centers averted 3,700 cases of cervical cancer and 2,100 cervical cancer deaths (Guttmacher Institute 2010). Places like Planned Parenthood are not just aborting pregnancies, they are saving lives.
The Arkansas policymakers sought to assist pregnant, Medicaid recipients who were obtaining care from Planned Parenthood, because they felt these individuals were being steered in the direction of abortion. Regardless, the larger vulnerable population affected by this ruling includes: Medicaid recipients in Arkansas who are sexually active and able to become pregnant, but do not wish to become pregnant, and are in need of contraceptive services and supplies, and Medicaid recipients who are seeking cancer screenings, reproductive health services, or sexual education. According to the Planned Parenthood website, “Medicaid covers one out of every five American women of reproductive age. For these women, Medicaid makes the difference between access to basic care, like birth control — or doing without.” For many Arkansas citizens, this ruling makes accessing reproductive healthcare virtually impossible.
This ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals aligns with extremists underlying efforts to defund Planned Parenthood nationwide, and make it more difficult for abortions to be performed across the United States. Nevertheless, in the grand scheme of things this ruling sets reproductive healthcare, and healthcare as a whole back decades. Therefore, the social problem of abortion is being addressed. However, the larger social problem is the violation of Medicaid recipients’ rights to choose where they receive reproductive healthcare; and that problem has not been adequately addressed. By blocking Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, Arkansas is blocking many individuals from receiving safe reproductive healthcare. Over half of Planned Parenthood’s patients depend on Medicaid for preventative health care services. Planned Parenthood provides those services to more than 36% of women who receive publicly funded family planning care (Planned Parenthood, "Medicaid and Reproductive Health”).
A large number of Americans feel that if Planned Parenthood health centers are shut down, other healthcare providers will just pick up the slack. Although, the reality is that even in areas where other providers exist, there are simply not enough reproductive health care providers to absorb Planned Parenthood’s existing patients (J. Frost, K. Hasstedt, 2015). Frost and Hasstedt also found that “in some areas, Planned Parenthood is the sole safety-net provider of contraceptive care. And even where there are other safety-net providers, they, on average, serve far fewer contraceptive clients than do sites operated by Planned Parenthood” (2015). This is simply further proof that without Planned Parenthood, many individuals would have no way of obtaining contraceptive care.
Ultimately, there is no way to solve the social problem of abortion in a way that pleases everyone. There will always be those who oppose abortions and there with always be those who will die fighting for our right to have safe, legal access to them. My opinions lie with those of the latter. I feel it is an individual’s right to have a safe abortion if they so choose, and the law should support them in that. My personal opinion is that this ruling is ludicrous and not only is it violating the rights of its people, it is inhibiting Arkansas from progressing politically. By pulling Medicaid funding out of the Planned Parenthood equation, they are forcing individuals seeking abortions to resort back to “back alley butchers”, which often result in infection, infertility and even death.
In conclusion, Arkansas blocking Planned Parenthood from accepting Medicaid is a social welfare policy that addresses the social problem of abortion. While addressing this problem, this ruling affects other services provided by Planned Parenthood and their availability to Medicaid recipients. The target group policymakers had in mind were individuals looking to acquire abortions from Planed Parenthood; but the more vulnerable population they are hurting in the long run is Medicaid recipients in need of reproductive healthcare, especially in locations where Planned Parenthood is the only center providing these services. This ruling succeeded in addressing the social problem of abortion, but failed miserably in securing the future of reproductive healthcare for low-income individuals in Arkansas. I do not feel that this social welfare policy adequately addresses any social problem, because I do not see abortion as a problem.