North Carolina Lawmakers Defund Planned Parenthood

Facing a veto from North Carolina’s Democratic Governor Bev Perdue North Carolina Republicans voted to override and strip money from Planned Parenthood. North Carolina Republicans voted last year to defund Planned Parenthood but their effort was overridden by a judge who said that the State can’t single out an individual health care provider for sanctions.

The Republican Legislature found away around the judge’s ruling by not naming Planned Parenthood in the bill. The bill passed says that the State Health and Human Services department cannot contract with any entity that provides private family planning services. This was able to single out Planned Parenthood without naming them specifically.

North Carolina already has a law on the books that State funds cannot be used to provide abortions, so the services that they defunded include affordable birth control, cancer screenings, pap smears and other services for low-income women in the state. Planned Parenthood estimates their two clinics in the State will lose more than $200,000 dollars each.

Paige Johnson, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, told The Huffington Post.

“If we aren’t able to figure something out and replace this funding, this will affect the price and availability of services and prescription drugs for patients. We won’t be able to provide the walk-in care we currently provide.”

North Carolina’s newest budget resolution takes the $343,000 dollars that was allocated to private family planning providers and redirects it to county health departments. The measure was taken because clinics like Planned Parenthood also offer abortions.

Johnson was not sure if the 2011 injunction against defunding Planned Parenthood applies to the current budget resolution but they plan on mounting a robust legal challenge.

Johnson said,

“We’re looking at all legal options,”