Secretary Price Would Endanger Women’s Health

At Planned Parenthood, we are committed to delivering high-quality, compassionate reproductive health care to everyone who walks through our doors, no matter what. As a women’s health advocate, I am deeply concerned with President-elect Trump’s decision to appoint Dr. Tom Price as his Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

If appointed, Dr. Price has pledged to prevent individuals covered by Medicaid from receiving care at Planned Parenthood health centers; which would cut off access to life-saving services such as birth control, sexually transmitted infection screenings, and breast and cervical cancer screenings for millions of women.

Planned Parenthood patients are concerned about what appointments like Tom Price will mean for their access to no-copay contraception. That’s why we have seen a huge increase in requests for long-acting birth control methods like IUDs since Election Day.

Our patients’ fears are not unfounded. As a congressmember from Georgia, Rep. Price routinely voted in favor of dangerous legislation that restricted access to safe, legal abortion, voted for defunding Planned Parenthood, and supported bills that interfered with the doctor-patient relationship.

The Senate must decide whether a man who would deprive low-income women of basic health care is the right choice for HHS Secretary. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood will continue to work to ensure that everyone has access to the basic health care they depend on, no matter what.

On behalf of the 36,000 individuals who rely on Planned Parenthood California Central Coast for basic health care, I urge Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Senator-elect Kamala Harris to make the full examination of Price’s record a top priority.

Jenna Tosh is president and CEO or Planned Parenthood California Central Coast.