Alyssa Funk

The fight for women’s rights is receiving more political and media attention in recent months than my young intern brain can ever remember. It is no longer just controversy over abortion; the issue has reached draconian levels, striving to make contraception part of the debate. Republicans are using the budget deficit as an excuse to attack government funded family planning services, mainly Title X. At its roots, the hostility towards women’s health has absolutely nothing to do with saving lives or cutting the budget, but everything to do with race and gender. Without government-supported access to family planning centers, millions of poor women, a majority Hispanic and black, would be left without an entry point into the health care system.

Just this week, North Carolina became the third state in the country to pass legislation cutting family planning funding; while in Minnesota, Planned Parenthood was forced to close 6 clinics because of Title X cuts which were made this spring.

From a healthcare viewpoint, these cuts make little sense and from an economic standpoint, they make none.

Here’s why:

Publicly funded family planning services save money—a lot of money. In 2008 alone, Title X-supported clinics saved the states and federal government $3.4 billion in medical costs that otherwise would be paid by Medicaid. These clinics provide contraception to one-fourth of all poor women in the United States, helping to avoid 1.94 million unintended pregnancies each year. As it stands unintended pregnancy alone costs ...