Proposal to cut Planned Parenthood funding in works

Changes could be on the horizon for the roughly 7,000 people who pass through the doors of Bend’s Planned Parenthood facility every year.

Republican leaders announced their intention to cut funding to the organization during a weekly briefing Thursday, the latest chapter in a long-running debate over the organization’s abortion services.

Annually, about 2.5 million men and women across the country visit the clinics to receive annual checkups, disease screenings and contraceptives. Around 60,000 of them are Oregonians.

“In that 60,000, we do about 85,000 STI (sexually transmitted infection) tests and treatments. We do almost 9,000 breast exams, and 8,000 Pap smears,” said Tricia Wilder, Bend’s regional health center manager, said Friday.

Federal funding makes up about $500 million, which is 40 percent of the organization’s annual revenue.

Congress will attempt to repeal The Affordable Care Act, and cut Planned Parenthood funding along with it later this month.

“We’re not going to back down. We’re not going to be silenced. We’re going to fight the politicians who are attacking our health and our rights here,” Wilder said.