North Carolina Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto

by Robin Marty, RH Reality Check

June 15, 2011 - 2:54pm (Print)

In a move that is sadly unsurprising, North Carolina legislators gathered together to override Governor Bev Perdue's veto of a budget which would have, among other things, defunded the Planned Parenthood affiliates in that state.

Via Huffington Post:

Planned Parenthood of North Carolina (PPNC), which has nine clinics across the state, provides affordable birth control, preventative health care and family planning services to over 25,000 men and women. Without the $434,000 a year it usually receives in state and federal funds, Planned Parenthood says it will now have to axe its teen pregnancy prevention and adolescent parenting programs and force its low-income patients to pay out of pocket.

"The biggest impact is gonna be on the men and women we serve," said Melissa Reed, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Health Systems. "There are 12- to 14-week waits for women to get into the health department for birth control or breast cancer screenings, but we can see patients the very same week. The health department relies on Planned Parenthood to fill that gap, and now we will be prohibited from serving as that essential safety net provider."

Well over half of the state's residents oppose defunding the health care provider, according to a recent poll.