Denver, CO — Planned Parenthood isn't going to get any more money from the state of Colorado.
The state health department announced Friday that it's going to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains because an audit of the nonprofit organization found it is subsidizing rent for the separate Planned Parenthood arm that performs abortions.
“This news came as quite a surprise to us,” said Ellen Brilliant, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood.
Brilliant, who said she learned of the state's decision through a reporter's call, said the organization charges Planned Parenthood Services Corp., which does abortions, the same rent it charges all other nonprofits.
“This is not an attack on Planned Parenthood, it's an attack on the 13,000 women that turn to us for cancer screenings, birth control and other vital reproductive services,” Brilliant said.
Planned Parenthood will have loss of $381,956 of taxpayer funds this year.
Mary Rita Urbish, a co-founder and former past president of Colorado Right to Life, called it good news.
“It's about time,” Urbish said. “I am delighted to hear it. We knew that all along (there was a link in the operations). It has been so frustrating.”
In 1999, Gov. Bill Owens and Jane Norton, state health director, determined that the Colorado Constitution bars using taxpayer funds to subsidize abortions.
That touched off battles in court and in the court of public opinion, with the Owens administration and pro-life advocates on one side and Planned Parenthood on the other.
Eventually, in order to keep state funding, Planned Parenthood spun off Planned Parenthood Services Corp. as a separate entity that performs abortions. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains does not do abortions.
Local pregnancy centers who do not do abortions said the constitution should be enforced.
“We feel it is only appropriate that they have to abide by the same laws as the rest of us,” said Jor-El Godsey, executive director of Life Choices Pregnancy Center, which offers pregnancy counseling and services.
“The people of the state have indicated that they do not want their state tax dollars funding abortions, so I think it is consistent to the wishes of the people of Colorado,” said Lisa Rue, executive director of Friends First in Longmont, the national headquarters of the abstinence-education group.
The health department also notified Planned Parenthood on Friday that it may not be complying with federal regulations on fees it charges some low-income women for contraceptives. The department is concerned that Planned Parenthood is charging more for contraceptives than other agencies.
Brilliant said the health department has “taken out of context” pricing information. Planned Parenthood provides 60 percent of its contraceptives for free, she said.
This makes my weekend — it's terrific news,” said Leslie Hanks, vice president of Colorado Right to Life. “That's something we've known for a long time — obviously they haven't been in compliance.”
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)
