FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ana Sandoval, PPAC Communications, 916.446.5247

Governor's budget cuts to family planning hurt women,
leave millions of federal dollars on the table

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California is utterly disappointed with the Governor's 2009-2010 Budget proposal that not only harms women but also leaves millions of dollars in federal money on the table. The governor's proposal to roll back money used to fund family planning services - including life-saving breast and cervical cancer screenings and other preventive services - doesn't make fiscal sense.

"We're asking the Legislature to reject these cruel cuts. They are just wrong for California," said Kathy Kneer, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. "And while we are disappointed, we want to work with both the Governor and the Legislature, as we did last year, to increase the amount of federal dollars in the Medi-Cal program."

Family planning receives one of the highest federal matches of any service provided by the state. For every dollar the state spends on family planning, California draws down $9 in federal funds.

"In these tough economic times, Planned Parenthood health centers are seeing more and more new patients coming through our doors -- women who have lost their insurance or have lost their jobs and have nowhere else to turn for health care services,"  Kneer said. "These cuts could affect tens of thousands of women because we simply won't have the funds to provide essential health care services to them when they need it the most."

Ninety percent of the people served by state family planning programs are women. A recent survey of more than 6,500 Planned Parenthood patients showed that 70 percent had recently lost their jobs or had their hours cut and a full 59 percent said they had avoided seeing a doctor in the past year due to cost.

One 21-year-old patient wrote: "I was forced to work fewer hours and have been unemployed since November. I can't afford health insurance. Without Planned Parenthood I wouldn't be able to get my annual exam or afford birth control."

Family planning services are cost effective for California. Not only does the state draw down federal dollars, family planning also saves money in the long term. For every $1 spent on family planning services, the state saves an additional $5.33 in medical and social service costs that would result from unintended pregnancies. Over time family planning services have saved the state more than $2 billion dollars.*

*Final Evaluation Report of FamilyPACT, University of California San Francisco.

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Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) is the state public policy office representing California's nine separately incorporated Planned Parenthood affiliates. Through advocacy and electoral action, PPAC promotes sound public policy in areas of reproductive health care, family planning and comprehensive sex education.