Planned Parenthood came under fire when videos surfaced of its employees discussing the distribution of fetal tissue for research. A bill to cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood was blocked by the U.S. Senate, but some House Republicans say they will continue the effort to the defund the organization after summer recess.
Wyoming only has one Planned Parenthood health clinic. It’s in Casper and no abortions are performed there. It also does not receive Title X funding from the state or federal government and is not a Medicaid provider in the state. That means if the organization were to lose its federal dollars, the location in Casper would not see an immediate loss of funding.
Sharon Breitweiser is the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming, an advocacy and lobbying organization. She says abortion access isn’t as much of a hot-button issue in Wyoming.
"I think we have a live and let live attitude towards people that’s sort of libertarian. And organizations such as Planned Parenthood at least in our part of the country, they enjoy bipartisan support. You’ve got a lot of Republican women and others that are donors and supporters," says Breitweiser.
But Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains says that federal defunding would hurt Wyoming women, in that it would hurt access to women's health care everywhere. The only abortion providers are located in Jackson, so some Wyoming women travel across state lines for care at clinics that do receive federal funding.