Panto signs letter supporting Planned Parenthood

Morning Call (Allentown, PA)

May 12--Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. joined more than 100 other mayors across the country asking government officials not to cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

The American Health Care Act, the House-passed bill that would replace the Affordable Care Act, would keep Medicaid dollars from going to Planned Parenthood.

The organization, which is composed of health clinics across the country that serve often underprivileged clients on a sliding fee scale, has long been under fire by Republicans for providing abortions. But the vast majority of Planned Parenthood services include other health care such as contraception, screenings for sexually transmitted infections and cancer, and well women exams.

It's not clear whether the bill will pass the Senate, or what a Senate-approved bill would look like.

"Defunding Planned Parenthood would have serious consequences and an extraordinarily harmful impact on communities in our cities and and across the nation," the letter states.

The new health care bill would prohibit the health care organization from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for a year, a cut that would result in Planned Parenthood's losing about 30 percent of its funding, according to The Washington Post.

President Donald Trump also signed a law last month that lets states determine whether Planned Parenthood can access Title X funds, another pot of federal money that supports family planning and preventative services.

Panto said it was important for him to sign off on the letter supporting Planned Parenthood funding, which was sent to congressional leaders Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Paul Ryan and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

"Health care in any form is good. If [politicians] don't agree with the abortion part of it, they shouldn't support that part of it," Panto said. "To not support that program is defeating the purpose of having quality health care for people of all socio-economic statuses."

Federal rules have barred funding from going toward abortions for years.

The Lehigh Valley is served by Planned Parenthood Keystone, an organization that covers 37 counties with 10 clinics, including one in Allentown. A clinic in Wilson closed at the end of March.

The organization has braced for cuts since the November election, when it became apparent that Republicans were in control of Congress and the presidency. In January, Melissa Reed, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Keystone, vowed to stay in business despite defunding. At the time, she said Medicaid payments made up about $2 million of the branch's funding, or 30 percent of its budget.

Panto was joined by a bipartisan group of 105 other mayors who signed off on the letter, including 16 other Pennsylvania mayors. Carlisle Mayor Timothy Scott, Doylestown Mayor Ron Strouse, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, Lancaster Mayor J. Richard Gray, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, Stroudsburg Mayor Tarah Probst and York Mayor C. Kim Bracey, all Democrats, also signed the letter.