Sarah Schmidt began using Planned Parenthood at age 15.
Now 22 and a social work senior at MSU, she testified Wednesday in front of the Senate Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee that she doesn’t know where she would be today without the primary care program.
A bill presented to the Senate committee would prioritize state family planning funding to go toward organizations that do not publicly advocate, perform or refer women to have abortions.
Schmidt said she was uneasy about telling her mother she was sexually active and uncomfortable traveling to receive care. She talked to friends and her high school counselor before deciding to seek care at Planned Parenthood.
“Even now, when I am scared, the staff holds my hand and supports me,” she said. “They never rush or act as though there’s a line in the waiting room.”
Rep. Mark Jansen, R-Grand Rapids, introduced the bill.
“It’s important to understand that this bill isn’t about blocking abortion, it’s about spending dollars the way they should be spent,” said Carol Cruz, a spokeswoman for Jansen.
A referendum passed in 1988 prohibits abortion providers from using public tax dollars to fund any part of abortion. When challenged in the Supreme Court, the law was held as constitutional.
Under this bill, which passed the House, funding would be cut for Planned Parenthood clinics across the state. More than 62,000 women use the clinics for basic health care needs. Three of the 31 clinics provide abortions.
“Women love Planned Parenthood because we give great service,” said Robyn Menin, president of Planned Parenthood Mid-Michigan Alliance. “This bill is intended to defund Planned Parenthood, there’s no secret about that.”
Supporters include Right to Life of Michigan and Michigan Family Forum.
“As I understand it, this bill says that no tax dollar will go to anything that is remotely related to a possible abortion,” said Joy Yearout, president of Students for Life at MSU and a political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore. “Abortion is not family planning.”
Brittany Huyser-Smith, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, testified on behalf of Right to Life.
“I don’t want my tax money to contribute in any way to a multimillion dollar abortion industry,” she said.
Huyser-Smith went on to compare Planned Parenthood’s family planning to asking the Ku Klux Klan for advice in a children’s anti-racist program.
Sen. John Schwarz, R-Battle Creek, testified against the bill as a physician, claiming that “redirecting” the funding to other organizations would result in women going without care and therefore, more pregnancies and more abortions.
“This is a case of ideology holding sway over fact, substance and common sense,” he said. “If you deprive Planned Parenthood clinics of federal funds, you take care that women need away from them.”
