Jared Polis’ comments at a Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado (PPVC) event that mortality rates will increase under a Walker Stapleton administration are correct; the accompanying headline was tabloid-worthy.
We support Polis for governor because the consequences are so high.
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains health centers see nearly 100,000 patients a year and our political arm (PPVC) works to ensure policy issues impacting the communities we serve match up with needs and interests of the patients seen in our health centers.
Those of us on the front line of providing high-quality, affordable health care understand this should not be a political battle. Many of our patients already experience barriers to accessing health care and no one in good conscience should be adding to those obstacles. Communities don’t get better health outcomes by restricting access to health care, only by expanding it.
We don’t need a crystal ball to know exactly what happens when reproductive health centers are shuttered. In 2016 and 2017 alone, Planned Parenthood in New Mexico saw 80 percent of our out-of-state patients coming to us from Texas, where the state legislature slashed family planning funding by two-thirds. Many of those Texas health centers were located in rural areas. Those patients didn’t simply stop needing care. They instead sought the nearest place to get it: New Mexico. Driving sometimes hundreds of miles, staying overnight, coordinating childcare and time off of work, all to get the care they know they need.
As Sarah Huntzinger’s recent Denver Post piece stated, “I hope the future governor of Colorado will put women first. New leadership should prioritize women’s health care needs.” I agree with Huntzinger on this point, but I know first-hand that this priority must unquestionably come with a genuine understanding of the full spectrum of reproductive health care, which includes abortion care. There’s only one person in the Colorado governor’s race who fits this bill: Jared Polis.
We’re thrilled that Jared Polis is giving his support to our patients, and to the life-saving work done inside Planned Parenthood health centers every day.
Vicki Cowart is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.
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