Cost shifts don’t save

There has been a lot of talk about what services will or won’t be cut in the state budget. Here’s one piece of information that needs to be considered by our legislators: Cutting family planning services in our state won’t save any money.

In reality, it increases costs because when people don’t have access to family planning, there are more unintended pregnancies, not to mention more hardship and poorer health outcomes. Cutting spending on family planning shifts costs to a different section of the budget where money is spent on pregnancy care.

If we’re looking at ways to save money, we must preserve family planning in our state. Our legislators need to consider every single thing they spend money on, including the money they spend giving tax breaks to big, out-of-state banks and private jet owners. I think all of us who care about the future of Washington, including our state legislators, agree that we cannot dismantle the services the most vulnerable people in our state depend on to survive.

Hannah Dean

Spokane