Planned Parenthood cites a new study that shows every dollar spent on family planning services in Tennessee saves Tennessee taxpayers $6.37 that would have been spent on TennCare maternity-related costs.

At the national level, the study found that the federal Title X family planning program prevents nearly 2 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 abortions in the United States each year.

Maybe this information will be useful for state legislators who are serious about reducing abortions. See the full Planned Parenthood press release after the jump...

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From Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee:

NEW STUDY SHOWS PUBLICLY FUNDED FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS PREVENT ABORTIONS AND SAVE TAXPAYER MONEY

NASHVILLE, TN - A study released this week by the highly respected Guttmacher Institute shows a federally funded family planning program is highly cost-effective and prevents nearly 2 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 abortions in the United States each year. The program provides numerous benefits to Tennesseans while reducing TennCare costs borne by taxpayers.

Based on 2006 statistics, the national family planning program known as Title X (10) prevented 1.94 million pregnancies in the United States, including 400,000 teen pregnancies. According to the study, the 1.94 million pregnancies that were prevented would have resulted in 860,000 unintended births and 810,000 abortions.

The Title X family planning program began in 1970 as a bipartisan commonsense approach to ensuring that low-income Americans have access to contraceptive services and other preventive health care. By federal law, Title X funds cannot be used to fund abortion services. For almost 40 years, Title X has been the nation's only program dedicated solely to reducing unintended pregnancy by providing contraceptive and related reproductive health care services to low-income women.

For nearly 40 years, Planned Parenthood in Tennessee have received Title X family planning dollars.
In 2007, Planned Parenthood in Tennessee provided reproductive and sexual healthcare to over 11,500 clients during nearly 23,000 office visits. They provided:

• 9,376 pregnancy tests
• 10,674 sexually transmitted infection tests
• 5,177 pap smears to screen for cervical cancer
• 1,680 HIV tests

Title X patients are predominately poor and uninsured. It is estimated that Planned Parenthood clinics are the only source of family planning services for more than 80% of the patients served in Tennessee.

More than 75% of Tennessee’s Planned Parenthood clients have incomes at or below the federal poverty level, and their services are completely subsidized under Title X. The remaining patients are charged on a sliding-fee scale.

A Guttmacher Institute study estimates that every $1 spent on family planning services in Tennessee saves Tennessee taxpayers $6.37 that would have been spent on TennCare maternity-related costs.