Planned Parenthood ties opposed
Two members of the Spokane Regional Health District board said Thursday they want to cut ties with Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest – including a contract that provides breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income women – because they object to that agency performing abortions.
“I have to object to the underwriting of the killing of unborn babies,” said Dr. Charles Wolfe, an appointed board member, who opposed a $3,000 voucher payment to Planned Parenthood. “I will continue to be opposed to that until we get rid of that contract.”
His view was echoed by Mark Richard, a Spokane County commissioner, who said he opposed health district support for Planned Parenthood but didn’t want to deny women access to care.
“I’d like to suggest that we consider directing folks to another clinic,” Richard said.
The proposed change would remove the local Planned Parenthood affiliate from a federal program that reimbursed about 70 providers for screenings and other services for about 1,000 low-income women in Eastern Washington last year, said Christopher Zilar, a health district program manager. Cancer was detected in 14 women last year.
Cutting ties with Planned Parenthood also would jeopardize a new agreement that allows the agency to provide poor children access to potentially life-saving vaccinations through a state immunization program – and it would threaten a long-standing infertility prevention program.
Even more significantly, it would politicize the services of the county agency charged with the care of public health, said Dr. Kim Thorburn, the Planned Parenthood medical director who was fired last fall by the health district board.
“To me, that’s a real interference with the mission of public health,” said Thorburn, former health officer. “Bringing a philosophical ideal into the delivery of public health is very problematic.”
Wolfe, however, said women would have other options for cancer screening, and a government agency shouldn’t provide funding to an organization as controversial as Planned Parenthood. He said he didn’t believe his views on abortion amounted to a political stance.
Neither Wolfe nor Richard took action to discontinue the Planned Parenthood contracts on Thursday, and the voucher payment was approved by the larger board.
Wolfe has expressed concerns previously about health district payments to Planned Parenthood, but Thorburn said that when she was still the health officer, the question of ending the contract wasn’t raised. “We had a bit of a truce,” she said.
David Crump, a health district board member, suggested that board members consider the issue during upcoming budget sessions. “You’re getting into a discussion of the belief system,” he said.
Wolfe, however, on Thursday also questioned payment of a $200 honorarium to Thorburn, who was invited by the Spokane County Medical Society to speak at a medical panel discussion sponsored by the district.
“Is this a wise use (of money),” he said, “since she no longer has a contract with us?”
Torney Smith, the health district’s administrator, said questions about the stipend and about Planned Parenthood contracts were prompted by lingering effects of Thorburn’s dismissal. “It has to do with the residue of what went on here,” he said.
Zilar said he thought board members required more education about the need to provide a wide array of breast and cervical cancer screening options, including Planned Parenthood. The cost for the screening program for women between the ages of 40 and 64 is limited to Medicaid reimbursement levels, which are lower than the cost of the service, he said. Agencies that provide services for poor women, from small clinics to large hospitals, are losing money by participating, he said. Planned Parenthood screened only a dozen women last year, but offering women the broadest option of providers ensures better outcomes, Zilar said.
Planned Parenthood performed about 2,100 of the nearly 3,000 abortions conducted in Spokane County in 2005, said Jet Tilley, a spokeswoman for the agency. The agency’s primary mission is to provide contraception and family planning services to about 18,000 clients, mostly women in their 20s.
“One of the things that’s important to remember is that the bulk of what we do here is prevention,” Tilley said. “That said, in this country, abortion is still a legal right and women deserve to have access to all their options.”
Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at (509) 459-5460 or by e-mail at jonela@spokesman.com.