The Quickie: Missouri GOP Still Trying to Ban Planned Parenthood from Receiving Medicaid Funds
For Immediate Release: Feb. 29, 2024
Welcome to “The Quickie”
banner
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: Missouri GOP is still trying to block Planned Parenthood from receiving medicaid funds and anti-abortion group argues mifepristone is harmful to endangered animals.
MISSOURI GOP STILL TRYING TO BAN PLANNED PARENTHOOD FROM RECEIVING MEDICAID FUNDS: Yesterday, lawmakers in the Missouri House gave initial approval to a bill that would ban Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving Medicaid funding. After another vote in the House, the measure will go to the Senate. This most recent defund attempt comes on the heels of the state Supreme Court rejecting lawmakers’ previous effort to block funds during the state budget process — ruling it unconstitutional. Nonetheless, politicians continue to attack Missourians' access to health care. Barring Planned Parenthood health centers from participating in Medicaid disproportionately harms patients with low incomes who need sexual and reproductive health services. Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region told reporters that they provide this essential health care “without reimbursement, regardless of the patients’ ability to pay or insurance status, because every person must have the right to get care from the health care provider of their choice.
Read more in AP.
DIDN’T HAVE THIS ON OUR 2024 BINGO CARD: ANTI-ABORTION GROUP ARGUES MIFEPRISTONE IS HARMFUL TO ENDANGERED ANIMALS: Earlier this week, Students for Life of America — an anti-abortion group — filed an amicus brief in the mifepristone case that the Supreme Court will hear in March. And this one is eye-popping — they advocate for the restriction of mifepristone, claiming that traces in wastewater could be harming animals.
Jezebel reports that the anti-abortion group argues that the FDA violated the Endangered Species Act by not considering the effect on animals at the time of mifepristone’s approval over 20 years ago.
"Sure, Jan"
"Sure, Jan"
Despite these wild claims, mifepristone’s availability and accessibility is very much under threat, as the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments at the end of March in a case that threatens to disrupt the medication's accessibility and FDA approval.
Don’t even get us started on the other amicus briefs — who now can’t cite those retracted studies falsely claiming mifepristone is dangerous. We will continue to shout from the rooftops: mifepristone is safe and effective and has been used by millions. Period.
Read more in Jezebel about the amicus brief. See more about the mifepristone case here.