GOP's proposed cuts protested

Planned Parenthood advocates march in support of its benefits

More than 100 people donning pink T-shirts, buttons and homemade signs took to the streets Downtown on Wednesday afternoon to protest an amendment that would eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the family planning and reproductive health group.

"I think it's important that our government supports women, and there's already a lack of respect and a lack of care for women's programs," said Elizabeth Tatomirovich, 22, a Slippery Rock University student who participated in the rally. "I think it's awful that they want to take away one more."

Protesters marched from Planned Parenthood's offices on Liberty Avenue to the Pittsburgh office of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., to deliver signed petitions urging him to vote in opposition to the proposed programming cuts.

The rally comes after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a measure that would halt all federal backing for Planned Parenthood as part of their plans for sweeping budget cuts. The amendment, introduced by noted anti-abortion activist Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., passed with a 240 to 185 vote.

If it survives in the U.S. Senate, the measure would mean a nearly one-third budget cut for the seven Planned Parenthood centers in Western Pennsylvania, said Kim Evert, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania Inc.

"It will actually increase the number of people seeking abortions if they don't have access to family planning services," she said. "This does nothing more than to create a greater need for abortion in our community instead of helping to prevent unintended pregnancies."

Planned Parenthood centers in Western Pennsylvania annually receive $210,000 in federal funding through Title X, a federal grant program that provides family planning and reproductive health services for low-income individuals, she said.

Because this money is not permitted to fund abortion services, it is spent on other family planning programming, including birth control access, sexually transmitted infection treatment and gynecological exams.

But the proposed budget cut would target all federal funding, accounting for a total loss of about $1.3 million for local Planned Parenthood clinics, which annually see more than 10,000 women for family planning services.

"We'll obviously have to cut programs, and with that type of funding loss, there's no way we can deliver the same volume of care that we're providing now," Ms. Evert said.

On Sixth Avenue, outside Mr. Casey's office in the Regional Enterprise Tower, about five protesters gathered with anti-abortion signs to support the proposed budget cuts.

"We don't, as taxpayers, want to fund Planned Parenthood, because although they say that the money doesn't go to abortion, it frees up other funds so they can perform abortions," said Pauline Donnelly of Bridgeville.

"If people believe that Planned Parenthood does good work, then private funds should go to Planned Parenthood, not taxpayer dollars," added Robert Newman, of the anti-abortion group Face the Truth America.

First published on February 24, 2011 at 12:00 am