In those cases that these states count as medically necessary but that are not permitted by the federal guidelines, states cover the cost alone. Currently, 17 states allow funds to be used for "medically necessary" abortions. However, some states have expanded cases in which they will provide funds. The 1977 Hyde Amendment dictated that federal Medicaid funds could only be used to fund abortions in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. Medicaid, however, does allow government money to be spent on them - in very restricted cases.
Title X does not allow federal funds to be used for abortions. What does the law say on funding abortions? As of 2012, 79 percent of people receiving services from Planned Parenthood lived at 150 percent of the federal poverty level or lower (that comes out to around $18,500 for a single adult), according to a March Government Accountability Office report. Title X and Medicaid are programs that target low- to middle-income Americans, and many of Planned Parenthood's patients are likewise lower-income. The overwhelming majority of Planned Parenthood's services involve screening for and treating sexually transmitted diseases and infections, as well as providing contraception. Planned Parenthood, for its part, says it does not sell fetal tissue and claims these transactions were donations. The group says its videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue and have sparked a political firestorm.
How does Planned Parenthood actually use those government dollars?Ībortion is driving the defund-Planned-Parenthood discussion in the wake of undercover videos from the anti-abortion-rights Center for Medical Progress. States could continue to spend as they please. So when Washington politicians talk about "defunding" Planned Parenthood, they generally mean cutting off federal money. States receive a 90 percent federal reimbursement on Medicaid family planning spending, for example. While Title X is a federal program, Medicaid operates using federal and state funds. Not all of the public funds Planned Parenthood receives are federal spending, however. The overwhelming majority of federal funding to Planned Parenthood comes from Medicaid - 75 percent, according to a Planned Parenthood spokesman. Those public funds come from two programs: Medicaid, the health care program targeted at lower-income Americans, and Title X, a federal family planning program that likewise primarily serves lower-income Americans. That totals more than 40 percent of Planned Parenthood's total $1.3 billion in revenue for the year, which suggests that the organization would be in some heavy financial trouble without that public funding. How much does the government pay to Planned Parenthood?īush is right that Planned Parenthood receives $500 million a year in government funding - or, to be more exact, $528 million last year, according to Planned Parenthood's latest annual report. The government is the largest source of Planned Parenthood revenue, according to the group's classification.
But that's just one data point - here's what you need to know about where that money comes from and where it goes. Planned Parenthood does receive a half-billion dollars a year from the government. He has since said he "misspoke."īut Bush's comments raise questions about just how much money Planned Parenthood actually gets, what the group does with it, and whether defunding it would actually save taxpayers money. He then added as an aside, "I'm not sure we need half-a-billion dollars for women's health issues" - a statement Hillary Clinton and other Democrats pounced on, portraying it as a gaffe that reveals that Bush doesn't care about women's health. He said at an event hosted by the Southern Baptist Convention that Planned Parenthood should be defunded, and he highlighted that he did so as governor of Florida. Jeb Bush is again in damage-control mode, this time over an offhand remark he made about Planned Parenthood. Anti-abortion activists hold a rally opposing federal funding for Planned Parenthood in front of the U.S.
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