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Planned Parenthood fills health care gaps after Indiana's Medicaid cuts | Letters

Deputy Opinion Editor Jacob Stewart’s column, “Defunding Planned Parenthood won’t stop virtual abortions in Indiana,” would be laughable if the Statehouse Republicans he used to work for hadn’t already done costly and dangerous damage to reproductive health in this state.

Indiana is the third-worst state in the nation when it comes to maternal mortality because the state is too focused on passing laws against abortion instead of funding programs that keep people alive.

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Stewart calls Planned Parenthood “an abortion clinic.” However, abortions make up only 4% of the services they provide.

24% of services they provide involve contraception. Studies have shown that increasing access to contraception reduces abortion rates. Criminalizing abortion does not.

Another 54% of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are STI testing and treatment.

Planned Parenthood is an available and reachable option for those who no longer have coverage for these services following state and federal legislation limiting access to Medicaid.

While Stewart bemoans the ability of patients to access abortion care via telehealth, which one can only assume comes from his personal opinion of when life begins, he does not mention the demise of accessible and affordable health care for living breathing people.

Lainna Cohen lives in Indianapolis.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Planned Parenthood fills health care gaps after Indiana’s Medicaid cuts | Letters

Reporting by Lainna Cohen / Indianapolis Star

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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