Body
WHEREAS, the ideologically-driven and misinformed Pennsylvania Senate Bill 300 threatens to cut off crucial funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to family planning and reproductive health centers statewide, including Planned Parenthood, which provides services at its 27 centers in Pennsylvania; and,
WHEREAS, founded in 1916, Planned Parenthood offers vital health care and reproductive health services, such as breast cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted infections, family planning, contraception and birth control, counseling, and comprehensive sex education to 4,665,000 women, men, and children annually at its 700 health centers nationwide; and,
WHEREAS, 1 in 5 women in the United States will receive services from a Planned Parenthood health center in her lifetime; and,
WHEREAS, 79 percent of Planned Parenthood's health care patients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, and many patients rely on Planned Parenthood as their sole source of health care services; and,
WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood's services help to prevent 515,000 unintended pregnancies each year through contraception, family planning, and education and outreach programs designed to aid patients in making their own decisions about reproductive health; and,
WHEREAS, despite the misconceptions that serve as the motivation behind Senate Bill 300, state funds in Pennsylvania are only used to support Planned Parenthood's family planning services, not abortion services, and 83 percent of its annual budget is spent directly on clinical services, education, and research; and,
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 300 endangers over 16,000 Western Pennsylvanians who participate in family planning, responsible parenthood, community engagement, and comprehensive sexuality education programs throughout twelve counties; and,
Title
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby condemn efforts to eliminate st...
Click here for full text