Florida’s Planned Parenthood clinics are suing the state over a law that cuts funding for non-abortion services.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood argue the state Legislature seeks to ‘punish, harass and stigmatize the state’s abortion providers’. The suit challenges new regulations for the clinics, and a reworked definition of trimester. Laura Goodhue oversees public policy for the group and she says the measure will limit access to care.
“Because some politicians oppose access to safe and legal abortion, they want to remove funding for screenings for cervical and breast cancer, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, as well as accessible and affordable birth control,” she said.
Goodhue believes the state shouldn't limit those preventative services.
“78% of Planned Parenthood health centers in Florida are in rural or medically underserved areas. Meaning that these are areas that they don’t really have anywhere else to turn or a doctor to go to for reproductive healthcare. So that’s a big concern,” she said.
A federal agency has already blocked portions of the bill that would ban Medicaid funding for the clinics. The suit asks the US District Court in Tallahassee to overturn the law before it goes into effect on July 1st.
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