AUSTIN — A sea of pink moved in and out of the Capitol halls today as Planned Parenthood advocates visited legislator offices.
Kicking off the day, a crowd of about 300 gathered in front of the statehouse to listen to senators and representatives before meeting with some lawmakers who weren’t necessarily on the same page, but were welcoming.
Supporters of Planned Parenthood, including one woman dressed as a pack of birth control pills, rally outside the Capitol on Thursday.
“One of our primary goals is to help educate legislators about preventative health services, and that’s why it’s so important for women to be there and share their stories,” said Danielle Wells, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.
State Republican leaders want the group excluded because its affiliates provide abortions in separate, privately funded facilities.
The Texas Alliance for life, which will hold its own lobby day on March 20, says its goal is for the state to continue to not fund Planned Parenthood with family planning money and prevent them from being a provider for sexual education in Texas schools.
“There are ample alternative providers of family planning services to women and typically they offer comprehensive primary care, like prenatal care, which is a standard Planned Parenthood is unable to meet,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.
Gov. Rick Perry has thrown his support behind anti-abortion bills like the identical House and Senate bill filed this week that would ban the procedure after 20 weeks under the theory that a fetus can experience pain.
The Legislature has targeted Planned Parenthood during the 2011 session, which banned affiliates of abortion providers from participating in the state women’s health program. The Texas Women’s Health Program took over for the federal Medicaid program after the government withdrew monetary support because of the affiliate ban, which was upheld in court. The federal government previously paid for 90 percent of the cost of the program, which provides care for low-income women. That cost will now be absorbed by the state.
Many of the Planned Parenthood rally-goers spoke about having trouble trusting the new state program after an online database of approved providers was found to have hundreds of inaccuracies, such as listing businesses unaffiliated with health care or clinics that were not enrolled in the program.
Alexis Lohse, a 32-year-old mother and Texas Christian University student, said when she called providers on the list she had a hard time finding a physician’s office with any openings in their schedule.
Lohse said she hopes the state will refund the provider and allow it back into the Texas Women’s Health Program.
Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, filed a bill Thursday that would effectively reestablish the Medicaid Women’s Health Program in Texas and allow Planned Parenthood to participate.
Thompson joked Thursday morning that if men could get pregnant, birth control would be dispensed like sticks of gum, which drew laughter from the crowd of about 300. She said restoring the health care provider network would result in healthier women and millions of taxpayer dollars saved.