AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: Syracuse’s PPGEN fights back against Medicad budget cuts
Sofia Destaso: Congress passed the reconciliation bill this summer which takes Planned Parenthood
out of Medicaid. SU chapter president Nicole Donahue says they are focusing on different measures of political activism.
Nicole Donahue: This year as an org we have kind of decided that we wanted to focus on the action route of our name.
Destaso: One student has been feeling the weight of these changes. SU sophomore Grace Elford says the administration has been ramping up on things that she didn’t expect.
Grace Elford: Them cutting the resources that these centers have for people can’t be good. And it is really going to weigh on the populations that kind of need the access to these services the most.
Destaso: Planned Parenthood will continue to host information sessions and are implementing Plan B vending machines on campus to help students. Sofia Destaso NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — Congress passed a reconciliation bill over the summer, which cut federal Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. The president of Syracuse University’s Planned Generation Action (PPGen), Nicole Donahue said it was truly disheartening.
“It is devastating, it is hard not to feel any other way especially because Planned Parenthood is something that is so close to my heart,” Donahue said.
According to Planned Parenthood (PP) patients are not able to use their Medicaid health insurance anymore at PP health centers. This means that 1.1 million people have lost access to sexual and reproductive care. There is also a risk that 200 health centers could close down.
Grace Elford, an SU sophomore says she is concerned with the impact budget cuts have to the facilities.
“Planned Parenthood has been important for people in terms of having to access judgment free items,” Elford said. “Them banning the pill for abortions has taken away a big form of privacy.”
PPGen has been fighting against these budget cuts by holding political workshops to promote political activism. On Thursday, Oct. 2 they hosted a workshop on how to send emails to Governor Hochul. According to Donahue there are three pieces of legislator about reproductive care on her desk that haven’t been signed.
“This year as an org we decided that we want to focus on the action route of our name,” Donahue said.
While SU students may not lose their healthcare, some are worried that losing the resources PP offers is just as bad.
“Them cutting the resources that these centers have for people can’t be good. And it really is going to weigh on the populations that need access to these services the most,” Elford said.
PPGen says that people should be able to make their own “informed decisions” when it comes to healthcare. They say it should be between the patient and the doctor and not between anyone else.
“I think that the government has no place in the doctors office,” Donahue said.
PPGen is working to help students feel more connected and supported by encouraging them to get involved.
“This is an uphill battle, but we are all climbing the hill together,” Donahue said.