Missouri Bill Regarding Funding Restrictions for Abortion Services (HB 610)

HB 610 would prohibit any individual or entity from entering into a Title X contract with any abortion facility or with any individual, organization, or entity that encourages a woman to have an abortion or that provides required counseling for an abortion.

Laws that ban abortion providers or affiliated provider organizations from receiving public funds can result in the closing of family planning and general health clinics. These bans are directed at Planned Parenthood affiliates and similar medical clinics despite the fact that the majority of these clinics provide family planning and basic reproductive health-care and not abortion services. For example, ninety-seven percent of the services Planned Parenthood provides has nothing to do with abortion care, yet in states with these laws, they are not allowed any funding for family planning. In many states, these affiliate bans have led to the shuttering of family planning clinics, particularly in low-income and immigrant communities where lack of access to reproductive health-care is already critical.

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