Georgia No Longer Provides Planned Parenthood With Free STD Test Kits

[news]

[news]

Georgia's health department has cut off funding to provide Planned Parenthood Southeast with free kits that test for sexually transmitted diseases.

Money for the kits ran out on Friday. The Georgia Department of Public Health released a statement on Tuesday explaining it had decided to stop funding the STD-screening tests after losing funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Funding from the CDC that was, in part, used to provide these kits was cut and as a result the decision was made to use resources elsewhere," the statement reads. 

The state informed Planned Parenthood of its decision on July 17, one day after Gov. Nathan Deal (R) announced a state investigation into the organization in response to the release of the first in a series of controversial undercover videos claiming to show Planned Parenthood illegally selling parts of aborted fetuses, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Georgia ranks among the top 10 states for highest STD rates, the CDC reports. 

Planned Parenthood Southeast CEO Staci Fox called the decision "deeply concerning."

"We’re telling women their health care is not important," she said.

Planned Parenthood Georgia spokeswoman Helen Cox told BuzzFeed she thinks the decision was "politically motivated."

"I don’t believe it was a matter of funding," Cox said. "The timing is too suspicious."

Several states have taken efforts to stop funding Planned Parenthood since the release of the videos. On the national stage, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have pulled the plug on federal funding to the organization. 
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