The governor’s budget does nothing to address a family planning funding crisis that will result in more clinic closures and unintended pregnancies. In the budget, family planning is scheduled to be cut by another $3 million on July 1, 2010, on top of the $500,000 per year cut instituted in the first year of the biennium.

Based on these figures, the state can expect to see over 3,000 additional unintended pregnancies this year among people who have lost services. Additional unintended pregnancy care costs would likely add over $11 million in new state health care costs to the budget the same year the cut is made – resulting in an $8 million cost instead of the $3 million savings the state was seeking with this cut.

Planned Parenthood applauds the governor for recognizing the budget she was required to put forward as “balanced but unjust.”

In order for Washington to effectively respond to our national economic downturn, everything needs to be on the table: Planned Parenthood advocates a budget that takes a balanced approach, including not just targeted cuts and reforms to make government more efficient, but also sufficient additional revenue to maintain the essential services so many Washington families depend on. Furthermore, we cannot cut those programs, like family planning, that keep costs down.

Family planning services are even more critical to individuals and our state during times of economic hardship. Family planning saves money: for every dollar it invests, Washington State saves $4.39 according to the Guttmacher Institute. Reproductive health care not only supports healthy families by allowing people to plan their pregnancies, it keeps state Medicaid, pregnancy care, and other costs down.

In this recession the needs of Washington families are growing, and eliminating the resources to help them is not the answer; an all-cuts budget simply plunges us further into crisis. The proposed cuts in the governor’s budget will hurt Washingtonians, undermine our shared values and compromise Washington’s ability to prosper for years to come.

– Amy Beliveau, Planned Parenthood Public Policy Network of Washington