By Currents News and Paula Katinas
ALBANY — Calling it a “money grab,” the New York State Catholic Conference is responding to reports that Planned Parenthood is requesting $35 million in funding from New York State to help offset Medicaid funding cuts by the federal government.
“New York State taxpayers should not be forced to prop up a clearly failing organization, especially one whose main business is terminating unborn lives,” Kristen Curran, director of government relations for the Catholic conference, said in a statement.
Curran accused Planned Parenthood of being “a bottomless pit of spending to the detriment of the communities that truly need support,” noting that those communities include working families, hungry children, people with disabilities, and those with mental health issues.
“Enough is enough!” Curran said.
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Planned Parenthood did not return The Tablet’s request for a comment. In statements to media outlets after the report came out, Planned Parenthood did not deny the $35 million request, but did say that “they are working with the state to make sure that 1.5 million New Yorkers don’t lose access to reproductive and sexual health care,” according to Spectrum News report.
The organization’s leaders, however, have previously expressed outrage when Congress passed a bill that included cutting the organization’s Medicaid funding. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in July.
Wendy Stark, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, called the bill “a targeted attack on Planned Parenthood health centers and patients who cannot afford health care.”
The funding cut notwithstanding, Stark vowed that the organization would “continue to show up for communities who rely on our health centers.”
Planned Parenthood has had a tumultuous year in New York. In March, the organization announced that it would close its last remaining health center in Manhattan at 26 Bleecker Street in NoHo.
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At the time, Planned Parenthood claimed that the gap between the funds it spends to treat patients and the money the organization receives in Medicaid reimbursements is widening, which made difficult choices necessary.
“This is an emotional decision for us,” Stark said in a statement.
As of Aug. 11, the Bleecker Street location was still open, although Bernadette Patel, a pro-life advocate who led a prayer vigil outside the health center in April, said it was operating with reduced hours.
According to the New York State Catholic Conference, Planned Parenthood doesn’t deserve additional state funding because it already gets plenty of the taxpayers’ money.
“The abortion industry in New York is looking increasingly like an irresponsible and spoiled adolescent, spending its generous allowance too fast,” Curran said.