The city of Nashville’s Metro Council has allocated a large sum of money to Planned Parenthood, despite the fact that the abortion organization is no longer performing those procedures in the state.
“Metro Council pulled $500,000 from city departments, including police, to send money to Planned Parenthood,” according to one report.
According to a second report, $90,000 came from the police, and another $60,000 came from Parks and Recreation.
Council member Freddie O’Connell said it’s not political.
“I would dispute that and I would contend that not only that Planned Parenthood but other organizations that we’ve worked with that we think are going to be sub-recipients to some of this funding would say that funding is going to go directly to providing education and to supply materials and resources that would not have been likely without it,” he reportedly said.
In August, Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, along with other abortion clinics in the state, announced that they were no longer providing those procedures after a state law took effect outlawing most abortions.
The law takes effect after June’s Supreme Court decision in a case called Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which effectively overturned the infamous Roe v. Wade decision.
“Due to recent changes in Tennessee law, [Planned Parenthood Tennessee and Northern Mississippi] can no longer provide medication or surgical abortion services at our health centers,” said a message on that group’s website.
But the group said it would fight back.
“We are going to continue to help patients access abortions even though we can’t provide it here at home,” said Ashley Coffield, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Tennessee and Northern Mississippi. “We are going to do everything we can to make sure that finances and logistics does not stand in the way of any person getting the abortion care they need.”
Planned Parenthood has not announced a plan for how it will spend the grant money allocated by the Metro Council.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Planned Parenthood in St. Paul” by Fibonacci Blue. CC BY 2.0.
