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Abortion backers, opponents face off over use of state funds
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CONCORD — The two sides of the abortion debate faced off at a press conference Friday organized by pro-life groups.
The Cornerstone Action lobbying group brought several pro-life speakers to town to praise a 3-2 vote by the Executive Council to bar public funding for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
Approximately two dozen people with Cornerstone walked past approximately twice as many Planned Parenthood supporters and faced them during the press conference.
The Council voted last month to reject a $1.8 million contract with PPNNE, and approve 10 others for family planning agencies that do not provide abortions.
Health and Human Services Commissioner Nicholas Toumpas has said the state's federal family planning grants could be cut in half if substitute care for 16,000 PPNNE clients is not found soon. That cut would affect family planning agencies statewide.
PPNNE says abortions make up about 3 percent of the services it provides. It is not considering dropping abortion services in response to the contract dispute. Other care it provides, free to many of its clients, includes cancer screening, physical exams, reproductive and general health care services.
Since its last contract ended June 30, PPNNE cannot dispense medication, which it said it did at little or no cost. Instead it gives clients prescriptions to be filled at pharmacies.
Cornerstone brought Marilyn Musgrave of the Susan B. Anthony List in Virginia and a former Massachusetts Planned Parenthood worker to praise the Council vote and criticize Planned Parenthood.
Musgrave said the connections between abortion and other services can't be broken. Taxpayer funds “free up other money within the organization that may be used to provide abortions,” she said. “Taxpayers do not want abortion providers reaching into their wallets.”
The audience booed Musgrave, a former member of Congress from Colorado, and one person shouted “liar” after she accused Planned Parenthood of aiding and abetting sex trafficking.
Cornerstone Executive Director Kevin Smith said the Executive Council correctly read the mood of taxpayers.
“The citizens of New Hampshire don't want their tax dollars to go to the largest provider of abortions, and that's Planned Parenthood,” he said. “There's nothing that says the money rejected for Planned Parenthood can't go to the other 10 clinics for family planning purposes.”
He argued that distributing the money to those agencies would allow the state to fill any gap in services, and protect the flow of federal money.
Jennifer Frizzell, executive director of PPNNE, said the agency has been audited repeatedly and cleanly by federal and state authorities to make sure taxpayer money does not fund abortions. Federal family planning programs are designed recognizing that some agencies will offer both abortions and other health services, she said.
Frizzell said work continues to try to reverse the Council decision, which hinges on Executive Councilor Daniel St. Hilaire, R-Concord. He cast the deciding vote against the contract, citing his concerns over abortion.
“We have experienced a groundswell of support from former patients” their families and others, she said. PPNNE continues to raise money from private donors and health foundations. The contract with the state represented about 15 to 20 percent of the group's funding over the years, and was leveraged at a rate of about five-to-one, Frizzell said.
“If we don't get the contract renewed will not able to offer services at six health centers across this state,” she said.
As it works to address the funding issues, Frizzell said, “It is not in the mix that we are going to consider taking abortion off the service menu for the women of New Hampshire who need that service.”
The Cornerstone Action lobbying group brought several pro-life speakers to town to praise a 3-2 vote by the Executive Council to bar public funding for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
Approximately two dozen people with Cornerstone walked past approximately twice as many Planned Parenthood supporters and faced them during the press conference.
The Council voted last month to reject a $1.8 million contract with PPNNE, and approve 10 others for family planning agencies that do not provide abortions.
Health and Human Services Commissioner Nicholas Toumpas has said the state's federal family planning grants could be cut in half if substitute care for 16,000 PPNNE clients is not found soon. That cut would affect family planning agencies statewide.
PPNNE says abortions make up about 3 percent of the services it provides. It is not considering dropping abortion services in response to the contract dispute. Other care it provides, free to many of its clients, includes cancer screening, physical exams, reproductive and general health care services.
Since its last contract ended June 30, PPNNE cannot dispense medication, which it said it did at little or no cost. Instead it gives clients prescriptions to be filled at pharmacies.
Cornerstone brought Marilyn Musgrave of the Susan B. Anthony List in Virginia and a former Massachusetts Planned Parenthood worker to praise the Council vote and criticize Planned Parenthood.
Musgrave said the connections between abortion and other services can't be broken. Taxpayer funds “free up other money within the organization that may be used to provide abortions,” she said. “Taxpayers do not want abortion providers reaching into their wallets.”
The audience booed Musgrave, a former member of Congress from Colorado, and one person shouted “liar” after she accused Planned Parenthood of aiding and abetting sex trafficking.
Cornerstone Executive Director Kevin Smith said the Executive Council correctly read the mood of taxpayers.
“The citizens of New Hampshire don't want their tax dollars to go to the largest provider of abortions, and that's Planned Parenthood,” he said. “There's nothing that says the money rejected for Planned Parenthood can't go to the other 10 clinics for family planning purposes.”
He argued that distributing the money to those agencies would allow the state to fill any gap in services, and protect the flow of federal money.
Jennifer Frizzell, executive director of PPNNE, said the agency has been audited repeatedly and cleanly by federal and state authorities to make sure taxpayer money does not fund abortions. Federal family planning programs are designed recognizing that some agencies will offer both abortions and other health services, she said.
Frizzell said work continues to try to reverse the Council decision, which hinges on Executive Councilor Daniel St. Hilaire, R-Concord. He cast the deciding vote against the contract, citing his concerns over abortion.
“We have experienced a groundswell of support from former patients” their families and others, she said. PPNNE continues to raise money from private donors and health foundations. The contract with the state represented about 15 to 20 percent of the group's funding over the years, and was leveraged at a rate of about five-to-one, Frizzell said.
“If we don't get the contract renewed will not able to offer services at six health centers across this state,” she said.
As it works to address the funding issues, Frizzell said, “It is not in the mix that we are going to consider taking abortion off the service menu for the women of New Hampshire who need that service.”