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Planned Parenthood seeks support Monday Feb 20, 2017 at 12:01 AM By Julie Akins For the Tidings Local Planned Parenthood leaders embattled by the current political environment in Washington, D.C., appealed to community leaders for continued support Friday morning. Threatened with defunding of the organization at the national level due to including abortion services among its many healthcare resources, they spoke at the monthly breakfast meeting of the Rogue Valley New Day Network, a gathering of progressive organizations working on building a community of peace, justice and sustainability, at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, in Ashland. The plea comes in the wake of continued pressure under a Republican-lead house which as recently as Thursday voted to allow restrictions on funding for Planned Parenthood. Sky Loos, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon, said even with reimbursement for health services such as cancer screenings and birth control, they struggle to keep up. “We have more need than capacity,” she said at the meeting. Federal reimbursements do not cover abortion services. Title 10 grants created by President Richard Nixon to provide family and reproductive services to the poor and uninsured which has nothing to do with abortion services and Medicare reimbursement, which also does not cover abortion, remain threatened. “40 percent of our funding is through federal reimbursements," Loos said. "Congress wants to defund us, but we are a fee-for-service organization.” She told the group of roughly 50 people that without reimbursement it would be a significant hardship on all of their programs. Planned Parenthood currently has three offices in Southern Oregon. One is in Grants Pass, one in Medford and one in Ashland. Only the Ashland clinic offers abortion services. The focus beyond health care and reproductive services is education, according to Loos. “Providing education brings teen pregnancy rates down,” said Loos, who told the group Eagle Point schools do not allow them to offer sexual education. “Eagle Point kicked us out. Their pregnancy rates are the highest in the area. “Oregon has strict guidelines around sex education. It must be taught and it must be medically accurate, but many schools don’t comply.” Loos says as a result of the threat to defund and schools reluctance to enter the conversation, it’s important for individuals to step forward with financial and community support. “Many people are making donations in the name of Mike Pence,” she said, referring to the Vice President’s stated opposition to continued funding of Planned Parenthood. “You could also donate in the name of Congressman Greg Walden.” Oregon’s only Republican representative has not been supportive of Planned Parenthood’s funding, according to Loos. So far, Loos says, they are doing better in terms of fundraising than in past years. “We sent an ask letter and received $20,000 in donations as compared to $5,000 we normally receive.” She urged the group to continue their support both financially and politically. “We’ve seen increases in members and donations. The biggest way to support us is to write a check, have a bake sale or house party.” She also asked the group to continue political pressure on not only Oregon politicians (Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley support Planned Parenthood), but on Republican politicians who are threatening to defund Planned Parenthood. “You can work on our political committees to keep the pressure on.” Starting next month Loose said they will begin a campaign so people can sponsor a specific service for a single person or a number of people. Meantime, the House voted Thursday to overturn a rule banning states from denying federal funds to Planned Parenthood and other health care providers that perform abortions. The Republican-led House voted to eliminate the rule under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn recently enacted regulations. The family-planning rule took effect Jan. 18, two days before President Obama left office. It’s unlikely Oregon will be affected as it historically has supported a woman’s right to abortion but other states with fewer options for access are expected to be more heavily impacted. — Email Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/@julieakins.