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Greetings,
Advocates, we need to call our pro-family planning legislators today, tomorrow, and Wednesday! Pro-family planning legislators in Michigan: John Conyers, 14th district 202-225-5126 John Dingell, 15th district 202-225-4071 Carolyn Kilpatrick, 13th district 202-225-2261 Sander Levin, 12th district 202-225-4961 The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 included time horizons (end dates) on discount, or “nominal” drug pricing, that many healthcare providers who serve low-income populations use to purchase medications from drug manufacturers. A rise in drug prices, scheduled for this year, means that many people will no longer be able to afford the birth control products they need to maintain their health and plan their families.
We do need to maintain a focus on the positive—what we can continue to do with lower drug prices. We need to emphasize the fact that every year Planned Parenthood serves 2.5 million American women, many of whom can not afford to go elsewhere for the care they need. We serve nearly 25,000 patients each year JUST at the Planned Parenthood Centers of West Michigan clinics, and two-thirds of those patients depend on our affordable prices to take responsibility for their health.
We don’t need to speculate on the negative things that could happen if we had to pay higher rates for medical products: this call is to our pro-family planning Senators and Congressmen, and they are aware of the consequences of higher drug prices.
Please use the talking points below to guide your conversation/messages. Let our legislators know that we stand with them in support of protecting everyone’s access to the birth control they need to make smart and proactive choices about their health and their lives. Access * Planned Parenthood works to make birth control available to all patients, regardless of their income or ability to pay. * Birth control is basic health care. No woman should be denied birth control because she cannot afford it. * Every woman and couple deserves every chance to prevent unintended pregnancy and plan parenthood. Deficit Reduction Act * Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading safety net for patients in need of low-cost birth control. Congress has passed legislation that will affect the ability of safety net providers like Planned Parenthood to offer birth control to women and families at affordable prices. * For nearly 30 years, federal laws have been in place to help safety net providers buy birth control at affordable prices that they can pass on to help needy women and couples. Now, members of Congress have put hundreds of thousands of women at risk of losing affordable birth control by eliminating those protective laws. * Birth control is essential to helping women and couples plan healthy families. Access to affordable birth control depends on three factors — like a three-legged stool. The first leg consists of providers like Planned Parenthood, that offer a safety net for high-quality, affordable family planning. The second leg consists of the responsible drug companies that provide cost-effective birth control to safety net providers. And the third and equally vital leg is Congress, when it prioritizes pro-family planning laws and policies and makes women’s reproductive health a public health priority. * Congress wants to change the drug-pricing laws that enable the nation's most needy women and couples to access birth control services from safety net providers like Planned Parenthood. Congress needs to hold up its leg of the stool by fixing the Deficit Reduction Act. * Every year, Planned Parenthood provides five million women, men and teens with health information and health care services. Hundreds of thousands of women could lose access to affordable birth control if lawmakers don't fix these laws. * Women and couples will be denied affordable birth control unless lawmakers fix the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA). Pro-family planning legislators in Michigan: John Conyers, 14th district 202-225-5126 John Dingell, 15th district 202-225-4071 Carolyn Kilpatrick, 13th district 202-225-2261 Sander Levin, 12th district 202-225-4961
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