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Iowa family planning services decrease after abortion change

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October 18th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Department of Human Services figures show that the state’s family planning program is providing far fewer services like contraception a year after state lawmakers excluded Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving state funding. The Des Moines Register reports that the program covered 970 family planning services from April through June. That’s a 73 percent decrease from the roughly 3,600 services covered by the program during those months in 2017.

The department’s data show the number of patients enrolled in the program has dropped from almost 8,600 in June 2017 to less than 4,200 in June 2018. The program aims to help poor and moderate-income level residents obtain contraception. Legislators decided in 2017 to ban agencies that provide abortions from participating in the program. The state lost $3 million annually in federal Medicaid funds.