美国国家公共电台 NPR Planned Parenthood Would Lose Millions In Payments Under GOP Health Plan

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The Republican health care proposal includes a section on Planned Parenthood. The American Health Care Act would deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood for a year unless the group stops performing abortions². Republicans have been trying for years to defund the organization. This is just the latest effort. Planned Parenthood's president, Cecile Richards, joins us now in the studio. Hi there.

CECILE RICHARDS: Hi.

SHAPIRO: How much money would Planned Parenthood stand to lose under the American Health Care Act, and how big an impact would that have?

RICHARDS: Well, the vast majority of our patients are on some kind of federal program and so see us through the Medicaid program or Title X. It's about upwards³ of $400 million in reimbursements⁴. But what's really important, Ari, to understand is that we actually are not in the federal budget. We get reimbursed⁵ for the care we provide. And we have about 2 and a half million patients who come to see us every year.

SHAPIRO: So if you're talking about $400 million a year in federal reimbursements, if that were to disappear tomorrow, what would that mean for Planned Parenthood?

RICHARDS: It would mean millions of patients would actually go without care. And Speaker Ryan's whole message has been somehow that people should be able to pick their health care provider but, it seems to me, unless they go to Planned Parenthood or unless they're a woman who's looking for birth control services.

SHAPIRO: This bill says if funding to Planned Parenthood was cut off, there will be supplemental funding for other community health clinics. Would that make up the difference that you're talking about? It's just that these clinics would not perform abortion¹.

RICHARDS: The public health community has been abundantly clear that they cannot absorb the 2 and a half million patients that Planned Parenthood sees each year. In fact I was just in Speaker Ryan's own district where we have three health centers that provide only preventive services 'cause that's actually what we're talking about here 'cause federal funds don't pay for abortion services.

And in one of those towns - Racine, Wis. - in his district, there is no other safety net health care provider that provides family planning. And the women I spoke⁶ to who are our patients are desperately⁷ concerned, as are millions of people across the country - is where they're going to go.

SHAPIRO: Beyond the question of reimbursements for Planned Parenthood, there is a provision in this bill that would not allow people to use their tax credits to purchase health care plans that cover abortions. Who would be most impacted by that, and what would the likely outcome be?

RICHARDS: Yes, for women in the marketplace, in the exchange, you can't buy health insurance coverage⁸ that would include abortion coverage. And of course, like all of these attacks on women's health, they hurt low-income women the most.

SHAPIRO: Many Americans who oppose abortion say they do not want their taxpayer⁹ dollars going to an organization that performs a third of the country's abortions even if their tax dollars are not funding abortions, even indirectly¹⁰. How do you respond to those American taxpayers¹¹ who say they're offended by any of their dollars going to Planned Parenthood?

RICHARDS: Well, actually that's not really true. The vast majority of Americans want Planned Parenthood funded. And so that's actually not accurate. And I think...

SHAPIRO: Well, Americans who oppose abortion...

RICHARDS: Well, but - again, Planned Parenthood operates just like every other health care provider in this country that provides abortion services. We get reimbursed for preventive care. And I guess, you know, if you want to reduce unintended pregnancy¹² and the need for abortion, the last thing you should do is try to deny women the access to family planning. This is a public good. It's a public health good. And the vast majority of people in this country support not only Planned Parenthood but the health care services that we provide.

SHAPIRO: There are at least two Republican senators - Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - who have said they don't want Planned Parenthood funding to be part of this health care bill. What kind of signals are you getting from Capitol Hill about the likelihood that this provision will stay in?

RICHARDS: Well, I mean we're working every day to make sure that members of Congress and members the United States Senate are hearing from patients back home 'cause we are in every single state in America. One in 5 women in this country have received health care from this organization, and to somehow wrap it up in the repeal¹³ of the Affordable¹⁴ Care Act, as Senator Collins and Senator Murkowski have said, is completely inappropriate and is literally¹⁵ going to create total chaos¹⁶ for women in America.

SHAPIRO: President Trump¹⁷ says funding will flow in full if Planned Parenthood just agrees to stop performing abortions. Would you ever?

RICHARDS: Absolutely not. You know, we provide full reproductive health care for people in this country. And even though abortions may make up a small percentage of what we do, women and families and young people come to Planned Parenthood 'cause they count on us to be on their side and to provide them the health care they need. Our motto is, care no matter what. And we take that promise very seriously.

SHAPIRO: Cecile Richards is the president of Planned Parenthood. Thanks for coming in today.

RICHARDS: Yeah, thanks for having me.

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

3 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

4 reimbursements   

n.偿还( reimbursement的名词复数 )；退款；补偿；赔偿

参考例句：

• We had to put in for the food reimbursements again. 我们不得不再次申请食物赔偿。 来自互联网
• Have you figured up the total of the reimbursements I gave you? 你有没有把我给你的报销账目全部加总了呢？ 来自互联网

5 reimbursed   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the firm's business will be reimbursed. 由公司业务产生的开销都可以报销。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时，他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

8 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

9 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

10 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

11 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

12 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

13 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

14 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

15 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

16 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

17 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。