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Planned Parenthood Targets McMorris Rodgers with Rally

Supporters of Planned Parenthood will rally Thursday outside Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ downtown Spokane office.

The noon hour event is meant to remind the congresswoman’s constituents that she voted last month for the House Republicans’  American Health Care Act. The act would take away the money allocated to Planned Parenthood to cover the health care costs for women on Medicaid.

Its supporters believe, if Planned Parenthood loses its federal funding, that other community clinics will be able to pick up the slack. Planned Parenthood spokesman Paul Dillon says a new study by the Guttmacher Institute concludes that’s not true, especially when it comes to providing reproductive health services.

“For politicians like Cathy McMorris Rodgers, this is usually their first line of defense, saying that other health centers can do what Planned Parenthood does. That’s a claim that’s repeatedly been dismissed by experts," Dillon said. "And this new study shows that, in Washington, these health centers would have to increase their patient volume by at least double to accommodate displaced Planned Parenthood patients.”

Dillon says nearly 60% of the provider’s patients in eastern Washington and north Idaho are enrolled in Medicaid.