Trump Withholds Healthcare Funds for Alaska
Planned Parenthood in Alaska has expressed to Sol de Medianoche and other media outlets in the state its outrage at the Trump Administration’s decision to withhold tens of millions of dollars of Title X funds from affiliates of this organization across the country, including health centers in Alaska.“This will harm thousands of patients in Alaska who depend on Planned Parenthood health centers for essential sexual and reproductive health care, including contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and treatment, cancer screening and more,” the organization said in a statement.
According to Planned Parenthood, this withholding of funds “from the only family planning program in the country, hurts nearly 3,000 patients (more than half of all Planned Parenthood patients in Alaska) who are low-income patients and who face greater barriers to care and may even lose access to care.” Rebecca Gibron, executive director of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, has stated that “every day, Donald Trump and Elon Musk burn down critical components of our country and its health care system. They have now turned their attention to essential healthcare, such as birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing. Their agenda is the same as the anti-abortion groups that support them: punish patients, punish Planned Parenthood and dictate which patients can receive healthcare and what care they can receive.This Administration is determined to dismantle access to reproductive healthcare, and they are now using our commitment to providing a safe and supportive environment for our patients and staff as an excuse to attack Planned Parenthood and the care we provide to patients who need it most.” In Alaska, Title X provides affordable birth control, cancer screenings and STI testing to nearly 3,000 people who otherwise could not afford these services. These people depend on Title X for their birth control and medical care and without this program they may not have any access. “By withholding Title X funds, the Trump and Musk federal government is denying healthcare and restricting patients’ freedom to control their bodies, their lives, and their futures,” Gibron concluded. |