How Kansas Spends Taxpayer Dollars: Restricting Women's Health
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Earlier today, Kansas confirmed they paid expensive outside lawyers $597,000 through the month of March to defend their new anti -women’s health laws. More than half went to defending a law which a court ruled was likely unconstitutional that takes preventive health care funding from Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKM). With these funds, PPKM annually provides more than 5,700 women with over 3,000 Pap tests, 3,000 breast exams, 9,000 birth control visits, and 18,000 STD tests.
The fact of the matter is that this funding—which provides preventive services including cancer screenings and affordable birth control to thousands of women and families in the state — ultimately saves taxpayers money (nearly four dollars for every dollar invested). But rather than allowing the hard-earned taxpayer dollars to be used to protect women in the state, Kansas is fighting to exclude Planned Parenthood. And rather than defending its laws in house with the Office of the Attorney General, Kansas is choosing to pay outside lawyers additional state funds to defend laws that only further restrict women’s access to health care.
In today’s economic climate with millions of Americans unemployed across the country, the state of Kansas is choosing to spend taxpayer dollars on further restricting women’s health instead of protecting it. Seriously?
