A bill introduced in the Iowa Senate aims to block federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other Iowa agencies that, among other medical services, also provide abortions.
Note: Planned Parenthood currently receives a federal-state match of Medicaid dollars. While the funding goes towards family planning services only and does not fund abortion procedures, Planned Parenthood does provide abortions.
By discontinuing the Medicaid Family Planning Network waiver, Iowa would lose about $3 million in Medicaid funding for family planning services.
The bill is expected to move through both the Iowa Senate and House, and it has sparked a contentious debate over whether it will make it hard for women in Iowa to get birth control, cancer screenings and other health care. On this legislative day edition of River to River, co-hosts Ben Kieffer and Joyce Russell are joined by lawmakers and activists on both sides of the issue to discuss the details of the controversial proposal, its impact on centers like Planned Parenthood, and the ability of other clinics to cover the healthcare needs of Iowans, if clinics were to close due to lack of funding.
You can read through Senate File 2 in it's entirety here.
Guests this hour include - State Senator Jason Schultz (R); State Senator Janet Petersen (D); Jenifer Bowen, executive director of Iowa Right to Life; Erin Davison Rippey, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland; as well as several Iowans who called into the show to share their stories of accessing Planned Parenthood for medical services.
