The regional arm of Planned Parenthood and its advocacy partner are adapting, and the women who head these organizations discuss how
As jobless claims in Oregon climbed, newly unemployed individuals across the state sought out health care providers that serve low-income patients. With demand for their services surging, those providers scrambled to figure out how best to provide care during a pandemic.
Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, which serves Oregon and Southwest Washington, is one of them. And it faced a challenge that was twofold: It had to rapidly transition to telemedicine and remote work standards while getting ready to open a new health center on Southeast Division Street in June. At the same time, its advocacy arm continued its fight to protect access to sexual and reproductive health care as some medical procedures were temporarily paused.
Street Roots recently interviewed Anne Udall, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, and Emily McLain, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, about how their organizations are responding to the pandemic, the adaptations they’ve made, and what they hope to see as the region moves beyond the crisis.
One of the first things Planned Parenthood organizations around the nation were tasked with was convincing state lawmakers their services are essential in order to avoid forced closure amid stay-home orders.
In Oregon, it wasn’t hard to make that case, but reproductive service providers in many Southern states saw access to their clinics limited during the pandemic.
In Oregon, said Udall, “we led a coalition and quick response to the first executive order to ensure abortion, family planning and gender-affirming care were officially called essential services in the guidance to providers from the (Oregon) Department of Justice and the Oregon Health Authority.”
She pointed to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s March 26 announcement that abortion services were specifically exempted from Gov. Kate Brown’s executive order, which delayed non-urgent surgical procedures.
“About a dozen states have taken action to limit abortion access during the pandemic,” Udall said. “Even here in Oregon, the extremists at Oregon Right to Life and their allies in the Legislature have tried to exploit the fear and urgency of this moment to push their agenda to ban abortion — demonstrating they are willing to go after our health and rights, even during a public health crisis.”
McLain, whose advocacy efforts have been focused on protecting funding and access to reproductive care in Oregon during the pandemic, said “the most troubling” example of reproductive rights rollback is happening in Texas.
Texas imposed a near-total ban on abortion for about a month, she said, “creating an unthinkable nightmare for people who were forced to travel out of state just to access essential health care, if they were able to access care at all.
“On the national level, we continue to see a systemic attack on health care and on programs that serve vulnerable Americans. There has been a political effort to roll back affordability and options in access,” McLain said. “We have been seeing other states take advantage of this moment to say that abortion access isn’t essential, that family planning or gender-affirming care is not a priority. So, we have an opportunity to set an example, as more and more people need to rely on the Oregon Health Plan. It’s more than just access, it’s about how we’re setting up our health care system in our state and nationally.”
She said abortion should be more accessible during the pandemic, not less.
“Particularly for mothers who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19, people quarantined with abusive partners and patients with fatal fetal diagnoses,” McLain said. “Forcing people to carry their pregnancies to term against their will only creates a heavier burden on a hospital system that’s already stretched thin caring for COVID-19 patients.”
Locally, McLain’s organization has been part of a coalition lobbying the Oregon Legislature and the Governor’s Office, advocating for health care access for low-income Oregonians. Other members of the coalition include regional health care providers such as Cascadia Behavioral Health, Central City Concern, Multnomah County Health Department, Allied Health Services, and dozens of other providers and nonprofits.
“We have also signed a letter to the Joint Committee on Coronavirus Response, in partnership with many organizations around the state, to provide recommendations for the creation of an economic and social safety net for Oregon families in this time of crisis,” McLain said.
Her organization is also one of more than 100 community partners involved in promoting and distributing payments from the Oregon Worker Relief Fund, which was set up to provide financial relief to immigrant families. While many immigrants work in Oregon and pay taxes, they fall under classifications that make them ineligible for unemployment insurance and stimulus checks.
Now, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon is also monitoring proposed budget cuts at the state level that McLain said “will impact access to health care in light of the most recent revenue forecast showing a significant budget deficit for this biennium and the next as well.”
In an effort to continue providing its medical services during the pandemic, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette pivoted to a telemedicine program after Oregon and the federal government eliminated barriers that were standing in the way, said its president and CEO, Udall. Since March 20, its conducted more than 3,350 telemedicine visits.
The nonprofit has also transitioned its staff to working remotely and contributed medical supplies to COVID0-19 efforts, she said.
“We’re very slowly beginning to increase our face-to-face visits as we put in safety measures,” she said. “For example, we’ve cleared out a lot of the furniture in our waiting rooms so anyone in there is observing 6 feet of distance. Anyone coming into our clinics is required to wear a mask, and we can provide those to people if they don’t have one.”
McLain said that nationally, Oregon has led the way on guidance around telephone medical visits, rather than singularly focusing on web conferencing. She said some changes put in place that increase accessibility may outlast the pandemic.
“Prior to the pandemic, the state had already been talking about telemedicine and how to incorporate it into our forms of access,” she said. “So I think we will continue to talk about the future of telemedicine and if it will be part of our services long-term.”
But, she said, the current situation has also brought up “lots of questions about access to technology and the question of whether internet access is a utility or a luxury.”
Udall said she hopes increased use of telemedicine is here to stay.
“Our general feeling, though, is that since we tend to be the only health care provider for the majority of our patients, we will continue to have a strenuous person-to-person clinic presence,” she said. “Part of the permanent change will be around this mix of telemedicine with brick and mortar clinics. In general, I think we’ll have more interest and commitment to remote workers. And, until we have a vaccine, we’ll be practicing pretty strict social distancing in all of our clinics.”
McLain hopes the pandemic will inspire greater reflection on the status of health care in Oregon.
“This is a chance for the state to look holistically at the wellbeing of Oregonians,” she said. “On the national level, this pandemic has laid bare many of our shortcomings and failures on a variety of issues. I’m hopeful that this makes us dive more deeply into what we do to make healthy communities.”
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