By Melissa Moody
Members of the Louisville Metro Council were at odds with each other over a contract that provides Title X funds for Planned Parenthood of Louisville, a nonprofit women’s health and family planning clinic for the metro area. The controversy stems from Planned Parenthoods support of abortion.
Planned Parenthood’s annual contract came up for renewal at the end of June. Two other contracts for Title X funds were scheduled for a renewal vote as well: the Family Health Centers, Inc., and the University of Louisville.
Mayor Jerry Abramson approved all three contracts shortly after a budget ordinance was passed in June which stated that contracts with the city exceeding $100,000 no longer require the vote of the Metro Council. Abramson deemed it necessary to fund all three clinics in order to support the number of Louisville metro area residents. Planned Parenthood received the amount of funding it had requested, approximately $160,000. However, the same debate has surfaced in past years and is certain to reappear in the future.
Planned Parenthood provides family planning services to low-income and uninsured women and families nationwide. The Title X funds are federal funds allocated by the Public Health Service Act of 1970, instituted by former President Richard Nixon. Planned Parenthood has been receiving Title X funding since the inception of the act.
Planned Parenthood of Louisville offers a wide range of family planning and women’s health services, including gynecological exams, distribution of birth control, infertility treatment and sexually transmitted disease screenings. Some affiliates to the national Planned Parenthood organization perform abortions, but Planned Parenthood of Louisville does not.
Kevin Kramer is a Republican Metro Councilman from the 11th district and a local Catholic school teacher who was against the renewal of the Planned Parenthood contract. He believes it is “impossible for Planned Parenthood to live up to the federal requirements of unbiased and nondirective counseling.”
According to the Title X guidelines, upon an unintended positive pregnancy test result, recipients of federal family planning funds “must offer pregnant women the opportunity to be provided information and counseling regarding each of the following options: prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care and adoption and pregnancy termination.” As Title X funding recipients, the Family Health Centers, Inc., the University of Louisville and Planned Parenthood are required to follow these guidelines.
Planned Parenthood sees the majority of local patients, approximately 6,000 per year. Family Health Centers, Inc., served 4,299 people in 2004 and U of L served approximately 776. A termination of the Planned Parenthood contract could have drastically reduced the number of patients served. This in turn could have been a blow to funding for all family planning services in Jefferson County, because the state allocation fund is based on the total number of patients served in the county.
“To cut out Planned Parenthood when they are seeing the majority of the patients would not only overburden the two other clinics, but many women who go to Planned Parenthood would not seek out services elsewhere,” said Jennifer Breslyn, communications director for the majority caucus of the Louisville Metro Council.
