Gillette health clinic’s funding fate shouldn’t be tied to abortion lies

A critical decision with consequences for Gillette’s access to health care is about to be made based on religious and political leaders’ false claims that city funds are being used for abortion services.

The possibility of Gillette Reproductive Health, a popular low-cost health care clinic, losing funding for the second time in five years has supporters once again on the defense, emphatically denying that any abortion services have been provided or recommended. 

The only question the Gillette City Council should consider is if the clinic — which it has funded for the past 15 years — has done a good job providing health care to people who can’t afford it. Righteous indignation about something the clinic doesn’t even do should not be part of the conversation.

As many supporters who use the clinic testified at the city council’s hearing, it provides services to low-income residents who are either uninsured or pay high deductibles for insurance coverage. It’s an important part of the community, providing STD testing and treatment for women and men, plus pregnancy testing, pap smears, breast cancer screening, birth control and sex education.

Such health services are needed by more women than ever. A new national Ipsos poll commissioned by the Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention found that 42% of women are forgoing preventive care services such as annual check-ups, medical tests or treatments, and vaccines, or had trouble getting an appointment with a provider in the last year.

The latter issue is a problem for many women in Wyoming due to a severe lack of practicing OB-GYNs. So is the high cost of tests and other services. City and county money have been used directly to subsidize patient costs. A $25 woman’s wellness exam at Gillette Reproductive Health can cost as much as 10 times that amount elsewhere.

“We do pull people out of poverty,” Julie Price Carroll, the clinic’s executive director, told the city council, speaking of the positive impact of providing low-cost health care. “If we don’t have the funds, [then] women go back into poverty and we create that cycle of poverty.” 

Watching a June 3 public hearing online about the controversy made me think about the words of philosopher Henry David Thoreau: “It takes two to speak the truth — one to speak and another to hear.”

Key decision-makers on the council, which has twice voted 4-3 in preliminary action to remove all $30,000 budgeted for the clinic, clearly aren’t listening to constituents who would otherwise go to emergency rooms at hospitals that won’t get paid for providing medical care. Those costs will be passed on to taxpayers and people who can afford insurance.

An online petition in favor of continuing the funding had 1,086 signers by last Friday, and supporters have a goal of 2,000 by Tuesday. 

No matter how many signatures are submitted, council members who voted to eliminate funds appear more focused on claims by a group of pastors who want to defund Gillette Reproductive Health. Also wading into the controversy is Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, chairman emeritus of the far-right Freedom Caucus that controls the state House of Representatives.

Rev. Zachary Viggers of Trinity Lutheran Church, the leader of the clergy group, said it objects to taxpayer dollars being used to fund “an organization that advocates for abortion, and I would add to that Plan B.”

Plan B is emergency contraception, also known as “the morning-after pill.” It prevents a pregnancy from developing and is used within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

“This stance is in direct conflict with Natural Law, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the entirety of Scripture and the deeply held beliefs of many in our community,” Viggers said.

Dr. David Beck, voluntary medical director of Gillette Reproductive Health for the past two decades, said unequivocally that he and the nonprofit organization “do not perform abortions, dispense medications that would cause abortions or support the termination of life.”

After the hearing, Beck posted on Facebook that he isn’t conceding any of the moral high ground to a group of “uninformed, misled individuals” who don’t tell the truth. 

“The Bible consistently encourages the caring for the poor and vulnerable,” the physician added. “We encourage [the city council] to continue helping us help others.”

Bear said he wrote the council a letter warning them that, because of the statewide 25% property tax cut — which he didn’t bother to say was supported by the Freedom Caucus — Gillette and other cities will have less money to spend. He said people who want to support abortion can donate to Gillette Reproductive Health.

“There are other places that provide the same type of other services without the abortion portion, and they are completely privately funded,” Bear added.

Pastor Ed Sisti continued down the same road, ignoring Beck’s testimony.

“We are not stopping abortion, we are just not supporting it, and you [the council] are supporting it,” Sisti said. “Even if one referral is made, you are supporting it. And I would say that is not your job and not your responsibility. I would encourage you to not do it, and I would encourage you to vote for life. Vote for life, which is why we voted you into office.”

Councilwoman Heidi Gross strongly defended Gillette Reproductive Health, stating the rumors spreading throughout the community for years about the clinic providing abortions and referring people for the procedure are “absolutely not true.”

She said she talked to her pastor, who was not part of the anti-clinic group, about the controversy. He provided an essential part of the debate I didn’t hear anybody else address.

“His take was that religious leaders should not be telling government what they should be doing with their money. I agree with that,” Gross said. “We have to have a separation of church and state. And for people to believe council should take a stance on this is highly inappropriate.” 

It will take political courage for any of the four councilmen, who have so far relied on demonstrably false claims about the clinic, to change their vote today. But if they were listening to the truth-tellers, it should make their jobs easier.