Family planning closures in Iowa could result in more abortions, senior official says

Last year, Iowa voted to block funding for any family planning provider offering an abortion. The state has put in place a new family planning system to replace these providers – but the data shows that it does not provide as many birth control services as before. Ironically, the new system could result in more unplanned pregnancies, which means that family planning closures in Iowa could result in more abortions, as one manager suggested.

"I understand that it's counter-intuitive to say," said Mark Anderson of the State Human Services Council, according to The monks' registerbut "by closing Planned Parenthoods, which provides abortions, you may end up with more abortions". Anderson is personally an opponent of abortion but said that data from Iowa's new family planning system worried him.

If this is true, Iowa would be far from being the first state to experience such a trend. Texas has seen its abortion rate increase after the closure of more than 80 state-run family planning clinics, according to a 2017 study in the United States. Journal of Health Economics. The report revealed that Texas teens terminated their pregnancy 3% more often in the three years following closure. Studies generally show that abortion rates are lower when the procedure is legal and accessible.

According to the Iowa Department of Human Services, its new program covered 970 family planning services between April and June this year, which represents a drop of nearly three-quarters compared to the previous year. last where 3,637 services were covered over the same period. The number of registrations decreased by more than 50% – 8,570 patients, to 4,177 – from June 2017 to June 2018.

"This is exactly what scares us, that people who need this program do not enroll and receive services," said Jodi Tomlonovic of the Iowa Family Planning Council. The monks' register.

Last year 's law forced Iowa to give up its eligibility for $ 3 million in annual Federal Medicaid money. Planned Parenthood claims to have lost $ 2 million, according to the register. The group was forced to close four Iowa clinics in Burlington, Bettendorf, Sioux City and Keokuk, which together had treated nearly 15,000 patients in the three years preceding the closure. register.

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 52% of adults in Iowa believe that abortion should be "legal in most cases / in most cases" (the numbers were more high among women surveyed). This is not far from the current national average: 58% of Americans currently believe the procedure should be legal in most cases, according to Pew.

Debates on abortion laws have become a major topic in the middle of the year in Iowa, especially the race of governors. Republican Kim Reynolds passed a bill earlier this year banning abortion as soon as a fetus' heart is heard (about six weeks after the beginning of pregnancy; they are pregnant between four and seven weeks, according to the American Pregnancy Association).

She fought with her Democratic opponent, Fred Hubbell, about this during a debate Wednesday, claiming that she had pledged to "fight on behalf of unborn children." ". Hubbell grew up Roe v. Wade and he is called a "flawless supporter" of the historic ruling of the rights of the reproduction.