Shelby County Undecided on Forcing Poor to Religious Organization For Care

Just about a month ago, I wrote about how Shelby County, TN, was considering severing its contract with local Planned Parenthood affiliate to provide family-planning services and instead going to opt for religiously-motivated Christ Community Health Services (CCHS).

On Wednesday the commission voted and ended up deadlocked, 5 - 5.

The Shelby County Commission deadlocked 5-5 Wednesday on a proposal to give Christ Community Health Services a contract to provide family planning services to poor people.

The tie vote in committee leaves in doubt the outcome of Monday's scheduled final vote before the full commission.

[...]

Voting in favor of the Christ Community contract Wednesday were Democrat Walter Bailey and Republicans Wyatt Bunker, Terry Roland, Heidi Shafer and Chris Thomas. Voting against were Democrats Henri E. Brooks, Melvin Burgess, Sidney Chism, Justin Ford and Steve Mulroy.

Democrat James Harvey abstained and Republican Mike Ritz was absent.

Under normal circumstances, Bailey's support would suggest that the Christ Community contract would get the seven votes necessary to prevail, as long as six Republicans support the contract Monday.

But Commissioner Mike Carpenter, a Republican, recently resigned from the commission.

Commissioners are likely to select an interim replacement early in Monday's meeting, before the debate on the family planning contract takes place. The replacement could start voting immediately if Mayor Mark Luttrell signs paperwork fast, said Asst. County Atty. Christy Kinard. The mayor will probably sign the paperwork quickly, said the mayor's chief administrative officer, Harvey Kennedy, who added that he hadn't asked the mayor about it.

[...]

In the past, the state divided the Memphis share of federal Title X family planning money between Planned Parenthood and the county Health Department. But the state recently began giving money only to county health departments, which caused the amount of grant money flowing to Shelby County government for family planning to rise from $560,000 to more than $1.3 million.

The county sought a partner to handle some of the work, and contracted with Planned Parenthood while it sought a longer-term replacement. The administration says Christ Community outscored Planned Parenthood and Memphis Health Center in an evaluation process.

Health Department leader Yvonne Madlock cited two reasons: First, Christ Community will offer family planning services in more locations than Planned Parenthood has -- four rather than one. Second, Christ Community offers a wide range of other health care services, while Planned Parenthood focuses heavily on reproductive and women's health, she said.

"[W]hile Planned Parenthood focuses heavily on reproductive and women's health"? Um.
Ok. Apparently Ms. Madlock, the Health Department leader, doesn't know what Title X is and is for. Perhaps she should get a refresher course. Or, you know, google it.

Dr. Rick Donlon, a founding physician at Christ Community, said last month that staffers will not direct patients to abortion clinics or make formal referrals to providers who terminate pregnancies.

"We really try to provide women with other options and make sure they have those possibilities," he said. "And if they at the end still want a pregnancy termination, we know they know where to go."

He said the locations of Memphis abortion clinics are widely advertised.

Christ Community CEO Burt Waller said Wednesday that the organization would comply with the federal rules. But he and the organization's Dr. David Pepperman said Christ Community wouldn't make a formal referral to an abortion provider.

Federal rules mandate that all options be presented in a neutral manner and referrals given upon request.

As I said before, the Shelby Co. government should not compel its poor and un/under-insured residents to be a captive audience to a religious organization in order to access necessary medical care (and potentially suspect care at that given their position on abortion).


[Related Reading: Want Some Jesus With Your Birth Control?]