Des Moines, Iowa — Iowa Governor Terry Branstad says he disagrees with assertions by Sheldon native and Family Leader President Bob Vander Plaats concerning state money going to Planned Parenthood. Vander Plaats has said that Branstad is making phony excuses and failing to follow through on a 2010 campaign promise to defund Planned Parenthood.
Branstad says Planned Parenthood does NOT get taxpayer money to cover abortion costs, but it does get reimbursed for providing other services to Medicaid patients, like annual reproductive health tests and breast cancer screenings. Vander Plaats says a letter from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal “schools” Branstad on how to cut off that money to Planned Parenthood, but Branstad says Jindal has been sued for making that move.
Branstad says the contracts that provide reimbursement to Planned Parenthood cannot be broken.
Branstad says if he did issue an executive order to cut off all taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood and Planned Parenthood sued, the chances he’d win the lawsuit are “not very good at all.”
The Family Leader has launched a “Keep Your Promise” ad campaign to pressure Branstad on the issue.
