DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have moved quickly on a longstanding goal of ending funding for Planned Parenthood, but the effort means the state will lose federal money and use funds typically spent on other social services.
By defunding Planned Parenthood, the state will lose about $3 million of federal funding for family planning services. The state pays about $300,000, which prompts the 90 percent to 10 percent match.
Although it will lose the federal Medicaid money, Ben Hammes, a spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad, says Iowa will spend an equal amount on family planning services by tapping a separate federal grant. This money will go to organizations that don’t perform abortions.
Iowa has used the roughly $15.2 million grant for foster care and other child protective services, though the state has legal discretion to use the money on family planning services. Hammes says there’s extra money to accommodate the family planning expenditure.
