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Planned Parenthood of Central North
Carolina (PPCNC) recently won $426,000 in federal Title X funding, averting the
closure of its North Durham clinic. Without the federal aid, a state cut of
$125,000 would have led to the office’s shuttering.
“We have patients who have been
coming to us for over a decade,” said Emily Adams, vice president of
operations. “When they turned to us and we didn’t have sure resources, that’s
where it really hits.”
Now with greater resources secured,
the Durham clinic is expecting a four-fold increase in its number of patients,
to about 2,000 a year, Adams said. It provides contraceptives, Pap smears,
breast exams, and testing for STDs, diabete,s and cholesterol; the clinic does
not perform abortions.
In June 2011, the General Assembly
passed a budget with a provision that made Planned Parenthood ineligible for
state-administered funding. After the group filed suit, a federal judge ordered
the state to honor its contract with Planned Parenthood pending the
litigation’s outcome. US District Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr. ruled in June
that the provision was unconstitutional on several grounds; however, that
decision did not deal with this year’s budget bill, which took effect July 1.
In response, the organization applied directly for federal funds, as it has
done in other states.
After learning it had received the
full amount requested, PPCNC dropped its federal lawsuit. “We’d much rather
focus on expanding care for our patients than litigating,” said Paige Johnson,
vice president of external and governmental affairs.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
