September 18, 2025 • 24 mins
Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson: The Truth About Abortion, Access & Power + More
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's way up with Angela Yee and I am so
glad you're here today. We have Alexis Miguel Johnson, the
president and CEO Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Thank you so
much for joining me today. Thank you for having me Angela.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
It's good to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Man. When I tell you planned parenthood is under attack,
I mean there is just so much going on from
news even last week that broke so Alexis. I also
think it's important and I know we always talk about this,
but we just have to set the groundwork for planned
parenthood because I think people just equate like planned parenthood
is just where you go to get an abortion, and
that is definitely not all of the work that planned
(00:37):
Parenthood does. I know, you know personally as a person
who's been to Planned Parenthood when I was in college,
there's so many other services that you guys offer. So
can we just break that down for people listening?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
First and foremost, absolutely, it is, and thank you for
starting with that question, because people do need to understand
what Planned parenthood health centers across this country deliver in
terms of care. You know, first off, we are a
critical part of the public health infrastructure. Planned parenthood. Health
centers do not turn away patients, right, not because of
their ability to pay, not because of race, not because
(01:08):
of their documentation status. But they're the nation's largest provider
of sexual reproductive health care. So that's everything from birth
controlled STI testing and treatment, you know HIV, you know
PEP and prep wellness exams, breast cancer screenings, you know
all of that. And yes, we do provide abortion where
(01:28):
it is legal, because abortion is part of sexual reproductive
health care, and we do it proudly because that is
about whether or not you people can make their own
decisions about if, when and how they become a parent.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I just end cancer screenings plant parent had also does that,
you know, preventative care, education, all of those things that
are really important. And it's just interesting to me at
a time that the government has decided to defund planned
parenthood is also a time where healthcare in general is
under attack, those two things are aligning absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I mean, look, we have been I started this job
just a few months before COVID. Okay, so I found
myself running a healthcare organization federation at the beginning of
one of the most major disruptions in our healthcare systems period.
And you know, and I think about you know, the
attacks that have come from all sides. You know, the
(02:24):
defund which we can talk about in a second, that
just happened this week, but connected to the big bad bill,
you know, the Trump administration coming after Title ten, which
is the nation's largest provider of resources for birth control
for low income communities. They have the Supreme Court has
been engaged in cases around blocking medicaid in states like
(02:48):
South Carolina, denying people the ability to choose their own
doctor if they are a planned parented patient. So like
it is literally every single branch of government coming for
us all the while literally these people on the ground
all across the country are just trying to open up
their health centers, serve, you know, serve the people who
are right before them, and ensure they have access because
(03:09):
sometimes plan parenthood. Health centers are the first point of
entry into the public health system for a lot of folks.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
No, absolutely, and like you said, affordable too, because you're
not turning people away based on finances. So that is
you know something that I feel like one thing that
is so broken in this country is the healthcare system.
And we compare ourselves to other countries and how behind
we are with that, and even as we're talking about
health care, also just thinking about abortion did not used
(03:37):
to be something that Republicans were so against. And I
feel like now is this stance of Republicans are pro
life and not pro choice or you know, and I
feel like that is something that did not used to
be the case. But it feels like now that's a
talking point.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That well, yeah, I mean, I think they're pro power.
I think they're pro control of our bodies. But the
reality is, you know, sexual reproductive health care was a
bipart artisan issue, you know, I mean it was. It
has had a lot of bipartisan support. Some of our
health centers across the country were founded by you know,
Republican leaders and supported by by many prominent Republican names
(04:12):
that you know, family names that you know. Now, you know,
the reality is in the in the eighties and nineties,
there was a group of folks who were not actually
active in the political process, the evangelical community, and they
were trying to figure out, you know, Republicans had lost
a few elections in a row, federal elections, and they
were trying to figure out how to you know, what
(04:34):
communities were not voting, who could they go out and
get organized? And they realized this group was really just
not that active, So they went and tried to get
them active. See what they cared about, you know what
they cared about, you know what they wanted to run on.
What segregation. They did not want to integrate Liberty University.
They did not want to, you know, it be forced
in integrating communities. And they were like, oh, okay, maybe
(04:57):
that's maybe the way. Yeah, that might that's not going
to look great, but they you know what else is
of interest to you? When they started talking about abortion,
ending abortion access to care and so the alignment between
really a movement that was you know, really grounded in
you know, racism and white supremacy now being aligned with
(05:18):
you know, actively opposing abortion bands and restrictions, and you know,
in some ways, we know these are also the same
bands and restrictions that impact black women, brown women, low
income communities, and rural communities, white women who are also
being impacted by this as well.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And let's talk about why that is. Because people also
need to understand how important access is to healthcare and
to family planning. And so I just want you to
break down. Why is it that black women, brown women,
lower income families are affected the most.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Well, look, I mean we live at the intersections of
some of the most difficult margins, you know. You know,
within our communities, we are margin by transportation, access to transportation.
We're marginalized in our education systems. We've been you know,
marginalized by our ability to get to a hospital, to
get access to care, by the economy. Right, So you
(06:13):
take all of those kind of marginalizations together and you
put healthcare, which is a critical piece of it, you know,
at the center. It makes it harder for us to
get access to that care. So we know that, you know,
black women are threed four times more likely to die
after childbirth or during pregnancy.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Black contented health care has been a huge issue that
I feel like people are shedding some light on now.
But then to say, oh, you can't choose your own doctor.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That's right, Yeah, that's right, and.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Then you take something like this defund bill. So so
obviously July fourth, they Congress passed and President Trump signed
this their big beautiful bill, which I've been calling the
big bad betrayal of a bill, which which cut Medicaid
for so many people.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
In need.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Right, Medicaid is our largest you know, insurance provider for
low income folks. For planted parenthood, the defund was immediate.
So that means that you know, half of all of
our patients are Medicaid patients, and it means that they
could no longer come to a plant parenthood with their
insurance dollars. And for planted parenthood, it means that we
(07:24):
could not get reimbursed for the services that we provide,
just like every other provider. So unlike the bigger Medicaid
cuts which go into effect in twenty twenty seven, conveniently
after the midterms, our we had to sue to get
an injunction.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I remember you said, see you in court.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, I feel like I'm always I'm always ready. Yeah,
just enough, we going to court. So we went to court.
We got a preliminary injunction and you know, in the
in the first circuit, our colleagues in Massachusetts, in Utah
and the National Office on behalf of our other providers.
You know, we sued and we sued based on you know,
(08:03):
essentially our First Amendment rights, right like they came after
us politically, they came after us because of our belief
that you know, people's bodies should be their own right,
they should be able to make their own choices, and
that is we were attacked for that and they withdrew
resources from that. So the injunction we did not win
that that case. So as of last week, Plant parenthoods
(08:28):
are no longer able to get reimburse for the services
through Medicaid. So technically a one year defund, so we
have to you know, continue to fight in the courts.
But also, you know, it's a it's a we know
they're coming for more.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So now what happens, right Let's say somebody comes in
and that you can't take their Medicaid insurance.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What happens to a patient?
Speaker 3 (08:51):
So there are a number of states across the country
that are going to step in. They understand that their
communities depend on their constituents having access to planned parenthood
right So states like New York, states like California have
been in conversations with our Planned Parented affiliate members there
about backfilling some of those resources. So again it's a
(09:13):
one year defund for right now. So we've been able
to pull together some resources from our state and local
governments to help support some of our health centers, but
there's no way to cover all of it obviously fundraising
to continue to support. You know, I have to say
the one thing about working at Planned Parenthood is that
we're scenario planners, like professional scenario planners. So we always
(09:36):
have like our win loss mixed scenario, our lost last scenario,
our you know, apocalypse zombie scenario, like you never know
what is coming into and so you know, we're going
to work as hard to see as many patients as
possible in Planned Parented Health centers and that that is
what every single member affiliate is doing on the ground.
(09:57):
And we're also going to fight like hellically to make
sure that we find a way to reverse this.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Right because Planned Parenthood also was getting funding from the
federal government.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Correct reimbursements like sine items. It's not like a Planned
Parenthood line item that you can just strike. It's basically
just getting reimbursed the way a rural hospital would get
recoursed or you know, the way you know, and you
would get reimbursed for seeing a patient and then taking
their Medicaid insurance.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And so also Planned parent had started off with you
guys have had to close certain locations as well, right,
certain health care sensors.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yeah, So what planned Parenthood is is run on the ground.
We have forty seven members that forty seven member affiliates
that cover about six hundred health centers across the country.
The only national medical service you know, provider across all
you know, across the entire country, and that's a mix
of health centers and telehealth and so, you know, six
(10:57):
hundred health centers. Over the course of this last year,
members have had to make choices to close some to
preserve the rest of the care in the state, right
And so what that means is that they're still able
to provide care, but it means that the burden is
on the patient to travel further. It may mean that
they delay getting that care because they've got to make
(11:19):
plans to travel across state or get the time off
from work, or it may mean in many cases that
they forego care all together. And I think that's what
we're going to see. You We're seeing that at plun Parenthood.
We're definitely going to see that when the Medicaid cuts
kick in.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I want to also talk about access to abortion and
family planning. What have we seen in the past when
abortion has been illegal because I think it's not just
like having to travel, because that's also a huge hinderance,
right taking time off from work, also finding somebody who
can even take you because some places that's considered a
crime also right now. But people will if they feel
(11:54):
like I don't want to do this, figure out a
way to make it happen. And sometimes those ways are
not going to be safe.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well. Look, I mean, we know, pre nineteen seventy three,
before Roe v. Wade came down, people were getting access
to abortion. Because at the end of the day, you know,
people's determination to live their lives as they wish, as
they as free, as they as they want to, that's
always going to be a driving factor. And so yes,
pre nineteen seventy three, people had some very difficult choices
(12:21):
to make. If you had access to resources, you could
fly to you know, out of the country, you could
fly you know, to a state where you could could
get care.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
You know, now things have changed.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Medication abortion has actually allowed people to get access to
medication abortion in state. There are shield laws that have
allowed providers in states like you know, like Massachusetts and
New York here to send medication abortion to to protect
the provider so they can send that medication into into
states with fans that is, you know, obviously, What's what's
(12:56):
happened since Dobbs is actually abortion numbers have gone up
because people have had more access to care and self
managed care has become you know, more routine and normalized.
So I think that, you know, the frustration from the
opposition right is that they keep trying to put these
bands in. They keep literally putting our lives at risk, right,
really impacting pregnant women. Abortion bands have made pregnant women
(13:18):
more dangerous, pregnancies more dangerous for so many folks, and
yet we are still seeking access and getting that access
because we understand how we need to take care of ourselves.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
And they just don't like it. If you're about power
and control and were coming and like, no, we have
a plan, we have a plan being no pun intended.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I got a plan C, Plan B, got plan C.
You know, I got plans.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
This girl over here is going to help me, like
we we have the networks, and that's what's happening.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, and so what is happening with again, I feel
like I've read that access also to getting those at
home you know, medication, the pills that you can take
to induce that that's also something that's being restricted in
certain places.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
The position is wily right. They're going to come after
access to abortion every single way. So coming after plant
parenthood is one particular way we have. Obviously, we provide
a significant number of abortions in this country, and you know,
and as I said, probably so because we believe abortion
is part of sexual reproductive health care and we're going
to help people in need wherever they are when we
(14:19):
can where we can. Medication abortion is also one of
those things of MiFi pristone and my Surprise style, which
are the two medications that you take in conjunction to
self managed care, are also under attack. So you know,
we don't know what else is going to come out
of this AHHS Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior, but
(14:41):
we do know that one of the things that's at
the top of this list is reviewing the safety of
MiFi pristone, because again they want to find all kinds
of ways to attack access to medication. There are you know,
you know, medication abortion is coming from you know, overseas
into into communities. Again, it is coming in from states
(15:05):
where abortion is is legal. Because you know, there is
need and demand, and people are not going to stop
just because some law makers.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm not gonna You're not going to step people from
having abortions here if that's the intent, like, and that's
what somebody's decision is. I always see the argument too,
when people talk about this is murder right and life
begins at inception.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
What do you say to that?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I say, you, you have a right to believe your
own beliefs, right, you don't have a right to impose
them on me. And you know, I do not believe that.
I believe that people get to make a decision about,
you know, if when how they become a parent. I
believe that it is a choice that they make between
(15:50):
their provider and their you know, and their and their partner.
I believe that they you know, that they don't get
to impose their will, their faith, or what have you
on anyone else. And the government's job is to ensure
that people have that ability to do that, not to
be imposed by someone's religious beliefs on your own.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Why is this such a big deal for them? That's
what I'm I understand. It's power, it's control over women's
bodies and people's decisions. But I just don't understand why
this in particular. I mean there's a lot of things
I'm not understanding right now but for quite some time.
Like if you don't want to do it, cool, if
that's your belief, cool, But why is this something that
(16:32):
is like I want to prevent people from having access.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Because it's not about healthcare, it's not about saving women.
It's literally about control, right, That's why, because we're in
a moment now that is all about the consolidation of
power and control. And one of the fastest ways to
kind of expedite power and control is to control women's bodies, right,
(16:57):
And so we've seen that in every government where there's
been a backslide in our democracy or democratic traditions or institutions,
the first thing they do is go after women's rights
because it's the fastest way to control health the population.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
No, absolutely, When I tell you, I think about, like
you know, kids that are coming up today in the
next generation, and all the things that they've had to
deal with and are going to continue to have to
deal with based off of decisions you know that are
being made.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
It is it's just mind blowing to me. It is,
and you know.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
In some ways, like and I say this as gen X,
like I feel like we dropped the ball. I feel like,
you know, like the assumption that that we were always
going to be on a forward path and that there
wouldn't be backslides right backtracks.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what if the ro versus the way would have
gotten over time?
Speaker 3 (17:43):
I would have thought we would be getting rid of
affirmative action of DEI right, who would have thought right?
The Voting Rights Act would be under such vicious attack.
I mean, people built movements and fought for our rights,
and you know, our job was supposed to go and
you know, take advantage of all of the all of
the benefits, not necessarily stay vigilant to the fact that
(18:04):
they could be taken away. And I think that's really
what we need to be telling the next generation.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Yeah, because there's so many things that could have And
what I do think is important is that now people
are seeing state by state things that they have to
implement and put in place so that we can still
make sure that as individual states, our rights are protected.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
But you know, just in some states it's not. It's
the exact opposite.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yeah, I mean I leave here and I go see
my mother in Georgia. My daughters are thirteen and sixteen.
Like literally we land in Georgia. We have different rights.
That's that's how it works, right, Like when people talk
about states rights, what they're saying is that in some
states you're going to be free and some states you're
not going to be free because those states and they're
not not free because that's where the majority of the
(18:45):
citizens in that state believe. Because there's no state we're
banning abortion is popular, where criminalizing providers is popular, where
you know, not being able to cross state lines is popular.
But they have gerrymandered themselves into power, and they are
holding and ruling as if they are you know, as
if they have majority rule. And the reality is, you know,
(19:08):
like we have to fight back and take that majority
rule in order for us to actually have a federal
right again, what.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Would you say to people who are listening right now.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I recently just went and got like my full exam,
but I have been putting it off for so long,
just time, Like I don't have time, you know, and
I need to go get my mammogram and I need
to do all of these things that I haven't done.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
So I'm trying to schedule things.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
But what would you say to somebody who's listening right
now and they're like, I don't know what to do.
I feel like I kind of need to go to
the doctor, but it's so much trouble. I don't have
health care, like whatever their issues are, and they're listening
and they're like, dang, I can't even if I don't
know how much it's going to be, how much is
going to cost when I go to the doctor. I
don't know what health care provider I can go see, Like,
I'm just so confused of rights that I have that
are now taken away and I don't what would you
(19:51):
tell them, like, where are some resources?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
How can they get started.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And making sure that they're doing what they need to
do to take care of themselves, Because I think that's
important because, like you said, a lot of people would
be like, I'm just not not even going to deal
with this at all.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I'm not going to deal with it. But you know
the first thing you can do, you can come to
a planned parenthood health center. You can get excellent, high quality,
trusted care for all your sexual reproductive health care needs,
including the men too.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
We got you too.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
I think it is so important to ensure that we
are keeping regular wellness exams. I can't tell you how
many of my friends, particularly doing COVID during that year
when they were being laid off, a furloughed, or they
weren't sure where their health insurance would take them, and
they came back to plant Parenthood for their wellness exams.
So I think a lot of times people think it
is just a like you know, from you know, high
(20:35):
school to you know, your twenties. But the reality is
it is you know, we are We're here for you
through your through your journeys.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
The second thing is I would say that you know,
for all of the care that we that we need
and want, we also had to fight for it, right.
I think that's what the last few years have really
shown us in great detail, that nothing is ever settled.
That if you care about reproductive for if you care
about freedom in general, it is so important that we
show up in this moment. It's a hard time to
(21:05):
show up because it feels like the world just feels
incredibly scary and incredibly crazy. But if we show up
collectively to engage, to vote, to kind of call your
policy makers and say, you know, this is what you
want to see those that's actually how power is taken back,
(21:26):
like bit by bit. And then the last thing I
would say is that you mentioned it, you know, like
we have to be thinking about this in a long
term like this is not a it's not just a
what do we do today? You know, they had a
long time you know term plan to like to defund
Planned Parent, to overturn row and we have to be
thinking in the same long term strategies of where do
we need to be in the next fifteen years, what
(21:47):
states do we need to continue to have these ballad
initiatives that allow us to you know, codify our rights
back into state by state until we can get back
to a federal right.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Have you seen a lot of people stepping up now
because Plant parents as they're you know, medicaid not accepting
their medicaid is not allowed to you can't get reimbursed
from medicaid anymore. Have you seen a lot of people
stepping up just to donate now? Because people can do
that too, right.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yes, I mean supporting Planned Parents, supporting your local affiliate
member is so important to ensure that you're continuing they're
staying open in your state. You know, supporting the fight
is so important right now and ensuring that people are
able to get access to care. There are lots of
people who are stepping in, you know, and I, you
know say attack to a lot of different kind of constituencies.
(22:34):
You know, I would say, I was just speaking with
a group of corporate women, you know, all T suite
executives last week, you know, and my message to them is, like,
you know, you would not be in this room but
for someone actually fighting for your access to birth control,
fighting for access for abortion, because your ability to move
through your career, to go to graduate school, to take
(22:55):
the promotion to like you know, fight for where you
want it to be, depends on your ability to control
your production.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Like that's just it.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
That is about your bodily autonomy, is your self determination.
And so we are not really instilling that and the
people who can afford to give the most, then we're
not actually doing our job.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
All right, Well, I love that. Well, thank you so
much for coming up here. We had really been like
behind the scenes, like what about this date? What about
this date? So glad that we were able to make
this happen at a really critical time, like you said,
the news broke on September eleventh about the first circuit
jeopardizing care for one point one million Planned parenthood patients
that defunding has gone into effect. Yes, and so it
(23:34):
is a really really critical time. And I feel like
sometimes things do slip under the radar because every day
there's like a million different things happening.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Right, that's like a strategy and like the chaos and
confusion and flood the zone. But I really appreciate you
lifting this up because it's going to impact people right
now and they need to understand what's the stake.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Listen, how many people have been to a planned parenthood
at some point in their life? Right If you think
about those numbers, I feel like for women it's like,
what's the numbers?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
One out of three?
Speaker 1 (24:01):
One of three has been three and men too, Like
you said, yes so as well.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
So just know that this is like very critical, very important,
very necessary for us.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Thank you Angela for covering it as well.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Thank you Alexis Migiel Johnson. She is the president and
CEO of Planned Parenthood. Love that you came up here.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Thank you Flash
What's up.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's way up with Angela Yee and I am so
glad you're here today. We have Alexis Miguel Johnson, the
president and CEO Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Thank you so
much for joining me today. Thank you for having me Angela.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
It's good to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Man. When I tell you planned parenthood is under attack,
I mean there is just so much going on from
news even last week that broke so Alexis. I also
think it's important and I know we always talk about this,
but we just have to set the groundwork for planned
parenthood because I think people just equate like planned parenthood
is just where you go to get an abortion, and
that is definitely not all of the work that planned
(00:37):
Parenthood does. I know, you know personally as a person
who's been to Planned Parenthood when I was in college,
there's so many other services that you guys offer. So
can we just break that down for people listening?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
First and foremost, absolutely, it is, and thank you for
starting with that question, because people do need to understand
what Planned parenthood health centers across this country deliver in
terms of care. You know, first off, we are a
critical part of the public health infrastructure. Planned parenthood. Health
centers do not turn away patients, right, not because of
their ability to pay, not because of race, not because
(01:08):
of their documentation status. But they're the nation's largest provider
of sexual reproductive health care. So that's everything from birth
controlled STI testing and treatment, you know HIV, you know
PEP and prep wellness exams, breast cancer screenings, you know
all of that. And yes, we do provide abortion where
(01:28):
it is legal, because abortion is part of sexual reproductive
health care, and we do it proudly because that is
about whether or not you people can make their own
decisions about if, when and how they become a parent.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I just end cancer screenings plant parent had also does that,
you know, preventative care, education, all of those things that
are really important. And it's just interesting to me at
a time that the government has decided to defund planned
parenthood is also a time where healthcare in general is
under attack, those two things are aligning absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I mean, look, we have been I started this job
just a few months before COVID. Okay, so I found
myself running a healthcare organization federation at the beginning of
one of the most major disruptions in our healthcare systems period.
And you know, and I think about you know, the
attacks that have come from all sides. You know, the
(02:24):
defund which we can talk about in a second, that
just happened this week, but connected to the big bad bill,
you know, the Trump administration coming after Title ten, which
is the nation's largest provider of resources for birth control
for low income communities. They have the Supreme Court has
been engaged in cases around blocking medicaid in states like
(02:48):
South Carolina, denying people the ability to choose their own
doctor if they are a planned parented patient. So like
it is literally every single branch of government coming for
us all the while literally these people on the ground
all across the country are just trying to open up
their health centers, serve, you know, serve the people who
are right before them, and ensure they have access because
(03:09):
sometimes plan parenthood. Health centers are the first point of
entry into the public health system for a lot of folks.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
No, absolutely, and like you said, affordable too, because you're
not turning people away based on finances. So that is
you know something that I feel like one thing that
is so broken in this country is the healthcare system.
And we compare ourselves to other countries and how behind
we are with that, and even as we're talking about
health care, also just thinking about abortion did not used
(03:37):
to be something that Republicans were so against. And I
feel like now is this stance of Republicans are pro
life and not pro choice or you know, and I
feel like that is something that did not used to
be the case. But it feels like now that's a
talking point.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That well, yeah, I mean, I think they're pro power.
I think they're pro control of our bodies. But the
reality is, you know, sexual reproductive health care was a
bipart artisan issue, you know, I mean it was. It
has had a lot of bipartisan support. Some of our
health centers across the country were founded by you know,
Republican leaders and supported by by many prominent Republican names
(04:12):
that you know, family names that you know. Now, you know,
the reality is in the in the eighties and nineties,
there was a group of folks who were not actually
active in the political process, the evangelical community, and they
were trying to figure out, you know, Republicans had lost
a few elections in a row, federal elections, and they
were trying to figure out how to you know, what
(04:34):
communities were not voting, who could they go out and
get organized? And they realized this group was really just
not that active, So they went and tried to get
them active. See what they cared about, you know what
they cared about, you know what they wanted to run on.
What segregation. They did not want to integrate Liberty University.
They did not want to, you know, it be forced
in integrating communities. And they were like, oh, okay, maybe
(04:57):
that's maybe the way. Yeah, that might that's not going
to look great, but they you know what else is
of interest to you? When they started talking about abortion,
ending abortion access to care and so the alignment between
really a movement that was you know, really grounded in
you know, racism and white supremacy now being aligned with
(05:18):
you know, actively opposing abortion bands and restrictions, and you know,
in some ways, we know these are also the same
bands and restrictions that impact black women, brown women, low
income communities, and rural communities, white women who are also
being impacted by this as well.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And let's talk about why that is. Because people also
need to understand how important access is to healthcare and
to family planning. And so I just want you to
break down. Why is it that black women, brown women,
lower income families are affected the most.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Well, look, I mean we live at the intersections of
some of the most difficult margins, you know. You know,
within our communities, we are margin by transportation, access to transportation.
We're marginalized in our education systems. We've been you know,
marginalized by our ability to get to a hospital, to
get access to care, by the economy. Right, So you
(06:13):
take all of those kind of marginalizations together and you
put healthcare, which is a critical piece of it, you know,
at the center. It makes it harder for us to
get access to that care. So we know that, you know,
black women are threed four times more likely to die
after childbirth or during pregnancy.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Black contented health care has been a huge issue that
I feel like people are shedding some light on now.
But then to say, oh, you can't choose your own doctor.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That's right, Yeah, that's right, and.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Then you take something like this defund bill. So so
obviously July fourth, they Congress passed and President Trump signed
this their big beautiful bill, which I've been calling the
big bad betrayal of a bill, which which cut Medicaid
for so many people.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
In need.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Right, Medicaid is our largest you know, insurance provider for
low income folks. For planted parenthood, the defund was immediate.
So that means that you know, half of all of
our patients are Medicaid patients, and it means that they
could no longer come to a plant parenthood with their
insurance dollars. And for planted parenthood, it means that we
(07:24):
could not get reimbursed for the services that we provide,
just like every other provider. So unlike the bigger Medicaid
cuts which go into effect in twenty twenty seven, conveniently
after the midterms, our we had to sue to get
an injunction.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I remember you said, see you in court.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, I feel like I'm always I'm always ready. Yeah,
just enough, we going to court. So we went to court.
We got a preliminary injunction and you know, in the
in the first circuit, our colleagues in Massachusetts, in Utah
and the National Office on behalf of our other providers.
You know, we sued and we sued based on you know,
(08:03):
essentially our First Amendment rights, right like they came after
us politically, they came after us because of our belief
that you know, people's bodies should be their own right,
they should be able to make their own choices, and
that is we were attacked for that and they withdrew
resources from that. So the injunction we did not win
that that case. So as of last week, Plant parenthoods
(08:28):
are no longer able to get reimburse for the services
through Medicaid. So technically a one year defund, so we
have to you know, continue to fight in the courts.
But also, you know, it's a it's a we know
they're coming for more.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So now what happens, right Let's say somebody comes in
and that you can't take their Medicaid insurance.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What happens to a patient?
Speaker 3 (08:51):
So there are a number of states across the country
that are going to step in. They understand that their
communities depend on their constituents having access to planned parenthood
right So states like New York, states like California have
been in conversations with our Planned Parented affiliate members there
about backfilling some of those resources. So again it's a
(09:13):
one year defund for right now. So we've been able
to pull together some resources from our state and local
governments to help support some of our health centers, but
there's no way to cover all of it obviously fundraising
to continue to support. You know, I have to say
the one thing about working at Planned Parenthood is that
we're scenario planners, like professional scenario planners. So we always
(09:36):
have like our win loss mixed scenario, our lost last scenario,
our you know, apocalypse zombie scenario, like you never know
what is coming into and so you know, we're going
to work as hard to see as many patients as
possible in Planned Parented Health centers and that that is
what every single member affiliate is doing on the ground.
(09:57):
And we're also going to fight like hellically to make
sure that we find a way to reverse this.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Right because Planned Parenthood also was getting funding from the
federal government.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Correct reimbursements like sine items. It's not like a Planned
Parenthood line item that you can just strike. It's basically
just getting reimbursed the way a rural hospital would get
recoursed or you know, the way you know, and you
would get reimbursed for seeing a patient and then taking
their Medicaid insurance.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And so also Planned parent had started off with you
guys have had to close certain locations as well, right,
certain health care sensors.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yeah, So what planned Parenthood is is run on the ground.
We have forty seven members that forty seven member affiliates
that cover about six hundred health centers across the country.
The only national medical service you know, provider across all
you know, across the entire country, and that's a mix
of health centers and telehealth and so, you know, six
(10:57):
hundred health centers. Over the course of this last year,
members have had to make choices to close some to
preserve the rest of the care in the state, right
And so what that means is that they're still able
to provide care, but it means that the burden is
on the patient to travel further. It may mean that
they delay getting that care because they've got to make
(11:19):
plans to travel across state or get the time off
from work, or it may mean in many cases that
they forego care all together. And I think that's what
we're going to see. You We're seeing that at plun Parenthood.
We're definitely going to see that when the Medicaid cuts
kick in.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I want to also talk about access to abortion and
family planning. What have we seen in the past when
abortion has been illegal because I think it's not just
like having to travel, because that's also a huge hinderance,
right taking time off from work, also finding somebody who
can even take you because some places that's considered a
crime also right now. But people will if they feel
(11:54):
like I don't want to do this, figure out a
way to make it happen. And sometimes those ways are
not going to be safe.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well. Look, I mean, we know, pre nineteen seventy three,
before Roe v. Wade came down, people were getting access
to abortion. Because at the end of the day, you know,
people's determination to live their lives as they wish, as
they as free, as they as they want to, that's
always going to be a driving factor. And so yes,
pre nineteen seventy three, people had some very difficult choices
(12:21):
to make. If you had access to resources, you could
fly to you know, out of the country, you could
fly you know, to a state where you could could
get care.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
You know, now things have changed.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Medication abortion has actually allowed people to get access to
medication abortion in state. There are shield laws that have
allowed providers in states like you know, like Massachusetts and
New York here to send medication abortion to to protect
the provider so they can send that medication into into
states with fans that is, you know, obviously, What's what's
(12:56):
happened since Dobbs is actually abortion numbers have gone up
because people have had more access to care and self
managed care has become you know, more routine and normalized.
So I think that, you know, the frustration from the
opposition right is that they keep trying to put these
bands in. They keep literally putting our lives at risk, right,
really impacting pregnant women. Abortion bands have made pregnant women
(13:18):
more dangerous, pregnancies more dangerous for so many folks, and
yet we are still seeking access and getting that access
because we understand how we need to take care of ourselves.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
And they just don't like it. If you're about power
and control and were coming and like, no, we have
a plan, we have a plan being no pun intended.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I got a plan C, Plan B, got plan C.
You know, I got plans.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
This girl over here is going to help me, like
we we have the networks, and that's what's happening.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, and so what is happening with again, I feel
like I've read that access also to getting those at
home you know, medication, the pills that you can take
to induce that that's also something that's being restricted in
certain places.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
The position is wily right. They're going to come after
access to abortion every single way. So coming after plant
parenthood is one particular way we have. Obviously, we provide
a significant number of abortions in this country, and you know,
and as I said, probably so because we believe abortion
is part of sexual reproductive health care and we're going
to help people in need wherever they are when we
(14:19):
can where we can. Medication abortion is also one of
those things of MiFi pristone and my Surprise style, which
are the two medications that you take in conjunction to
self managed care, are also under attack. So you know,
we don't know what else is going to come out
of this AHHS Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior, but
(14:41):
we do know that one of the things that's at
the top of this list is reviewing the safety of
MiFi pristone, because again they want to find all kinds
of ways to attack access to medication. There are you know,
you know, medication abortion is coming from you know, overseas
into into communities. Again, it is coming in from states
(15:05):
where abortion is is legal. Because you know, there is
need and demand, and people are not going to stop
just because some law makers.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm not gonna You're not going to step people from
having abortions here if that's the intent, like, and that's
what somebody's decision is. I always see the argument too,
when people talk about this is murder right and life
begins at inception.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
What do you say to that?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I say, you, you have a right to believe your
own beliefs, right, you don't have a right to impose
them on me. And you know, I do not believe that.
I believe that people get to make a decision about,
you know, if when how they become a parent. I
believe that it is a choice that they make between
(15:50):
their provider and their you know, and their and their partner.
I believe that they you know, that they don't get
to impose their will, their faith, or what have you
on anyone else. And the government's job is to ensure
that people have that ability to do that, not to
be imposed by someone's religious beliefs on your own.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Why is this such a big deal for them? That's
what I'm I understand. It's power, it's control over women's
bodies and people's decisions. But I just don't understand why
this in particular. I mean there's a lot of things
I'm not understanding right now but for quite some time.
Like if you don't want to do it, cool, if
that's your belief, cool, But why is this something that
(16:32):
is like I want to prevent people from having access.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Because it's not about healthcare, it's not about saving women.
It's literally about control, right, That's why, because we're in
a moment now that is all about the consolidation of
power and control. And one of the fastest ways to
kind of expedite power and control is to control women's bodies, right,
(16:57):
And so we've seen that in every government where there's
been a backslide in our democracy or democratic traditions or institutions,
the first thing they do is go after women's rights
because it's the fastest way to control health the population.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
No, absolutely, When I tell you, I think about, like
you know, kids that are coming up today in the
next generation, and all the things that they've had to
deal with and are going to continue to have to
deal with based off of decisions you know that are
being made.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
It is it's just mind blowing to me. It is,
and you know.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
In some ways, like and I say this as gen X,
like I feel like we dropped the ball. I feel like,
you know, like the assumption that that we were always
going to be on a forward path and that there
wouldn't be backslides right backtracks.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what if the ro versus the way would have
gotten over time?
Speaker 3 (17:43):
I would have thought we would be getting rid of
affirmative action of DEI right, who would have thought right?
The Voting Rights Act would be under such vicious attack.
I mean, people built movements and fought for our rights,
and you know, our job was supposed to go and
you know, take advantage of all of the all of
the benefits, not necessarily stay vigilant to the fact that
(18:04):
they could be taken away. And I think that's really
what we need to be telling the next generation.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Yeah, because there's so many things that could have And
what I do think is important is that now people
are seeing state by state things that they have to
implement and put in place so that we can still
make sure that as individual states, our rights are protected.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
But you know, just in some states it's not. It's
the exact opposite.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yeah, I mean I leave here and I go see
my mother in Georgia. My daughters are thirteen and sixteen.
Like literally we land in Georgia. We have different rights.
That's that's how it works, right, Like when people talk
about states rights, what they're saying is that in some
states you're going to be free and some states you're
not going to be free because those states and they're
not not free because that's where the majority of the
(18:45):
citizens in that state believe. Because there's no state we're
banning abortion is popular, where criminalizing providers is popular, where
you know, not being able to cross state lines is popular.
But they have gerrymandered themselves into power, and they are
holding and ruling as if they are you know, as
if they have majority rule. And the reality is, you know,
(19:08):
like we have to fight back and take that majority
rule in order for us to actually have a federal
right again, what.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Would you say to people who are listening right now.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I recently just went and got like my full exam,
but I have been putting it off for so long,
just time, Like I don't have time, you know, and
I need to go get my mammogram and I need
to do all of these things that I haven't done.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
So I'm trying to schedule things.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
But what would you say to somebody who's listening right
now and they're like, I don't know what to do.
I feel like I kind of need to go to
the doctor, but it's so much trouble. I don't have
health care, like whatever their issues are, and they're listening
and they're like, dang, I can't even if I don't
know how much it's going to be, how much is
going to cost when I go to the doctor. I
don't know what health care provider I can go see, Like,
I'm just so confused of rights that I have that
are now taken away and I don't what would you
(19:51):
tell them, like, where are some resources?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
How can they get started.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And making sure that they're doing what they need to
do to take care of themselves, Because I think that's
important because, like you said, a lot of people would
be like, I'm just not not even going to deal
with this at all.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I'm not going to deal with it. But you know
the first thing you can do, you can come to
a planned parenthood health center. You can get excellent, high quality,
trusted care for all your sexual reproductive health care needs,
including the men too.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
We got you too.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
I think it is so important to ensure that we
are keeping regular wellness exams. I can't tell you how
many of my friends, particularly doing COVID during that year
when they were being laid off, a furloughed, or they
weren't sure where their health insurance would take them, and
they came back to plant Parenthood for their wellness exams.
So I think a lot of times people think it
is just a like you know, from you know, high
(20:35):
school to you know, your twenties. But the reality is
it is you know, we are We're here for you
through your through your journeys.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
The second thing is I would say that you know,
for all of the care that we that we need
and want, we also had to fight for it, right.
I think that's what the last few years have really
shown us in great detail, that nothing is ever settled.
That if you care about reproductive for if you care
about freedom in general, it is so important that we
show up in this moment. It's a hard time to
(21:05):
show up because it feels like the world just feels
incredibly scary and incredibly crazy. But if we show up
collectively to engage, to vote, to kind of call your
policy makers and say, you know, this is what you
want to see those that's actually how power is taken back,
(21:26):
like bit by bit. And then the last thing I
would say is that you mentioned it, you know, like
we have to be thinking about this in a long
term like this is not a it's not just a
what do we do today? You know, they had a
long time you know term plan to like to defund
Planned Parent, to overturn row and we have to be
thinking in the same long term strategies of where do
we need to be in the next fifteen years, what
(21:47):
states do we need to continue to have these ballad
initiatives that allow us to you know, codify our rights
back into state by state until we can get back
to a federal right.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Have you seen a lot of people stepping up now
because Plant parents as they're you know, medicaid not accepting
their medicaid is not allowed to you can't get reimbursed
from medicaid anymore. Have you seen a lot of people
stepping up just to donate now? Because people can do
that too, right.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yes, I mean supporting Planned Parents, supporting your local affiliate
member is so important to ensure that you're continuing they're
staying open in your state. You know, supporting the fight
is so important right now and ensuring that people are
able to get access to care. There are lots of
people who are stepping in, you know, and I, you
know say attack to a lot of different kind of constituencies.
(22:34):
You know, I would say, I was just speaking with
a group of corporate women, you know, all T suite
executives last week, you know, and my message to them is, like,
you know, you would not be in this room but
for someone actually fighting for your access to birth control,
fighting for access for abortion, because your ability to move
through your career, to go to graduate school, to take
(22:55):
the promotion to like you know, fight for where you
want it to be, depends on your ability to control
your production.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Like that's just it.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
That is about your bodily autonomy, is your self determination.
And so we are not really instilling that and the
people who can afford to give the most, then we're
not actually doing our job.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
All right, Well, I love that. Well, thank you so
much for coming up here. We had really been like
behind the scenes, like what about this date? What about
this date? So glad that we were able to make
this happen at a really critical time, like you said,
the news broke on September eleventh about the first circuit
jeopardizing care for one point one million Planned parenthood patients
that defunding has gone into effect. Yes, and so it
(23:34):
is a really really critical time. And I feel like
sometimes things do slip under the radar because every day
there's like a million different things happening.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Right, that's like a strategy and like the chaos and
confusion and flood the zone. But I really appreciate you
lifting this up because it's going to impact people right
now and they need to understand what's the stake.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Listen, how many people have been to a planned parenthood
at some point in their life? Right If you think
about those numbers, I feel like for women it's like,
what's the numbers?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
One out of three?
Speaker 1 (24:01):
One of three has been three and men too, Like
you said, yes so as well.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
So just know that this is like very critical, very important,
very necessary for us.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Thank you Angela for covering it as well.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Thank you Alexis Migiel Johnson. She is the president and
CEO of Planned Parenthood. Love that you came up here.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Thank you Flash
Way Up With Angela Yee News
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