GOP lawmakers in Arizona announce new plan to defund Planned Parenthood

• Proposed bill would try to stop admittedly small amount of state tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood

Senate President Andy Biggs and his GOP seat mates say they want to defund Planned Parenthood in Arizona, although it's questionable how they could do it.

Their Friday announcement takes aim at what Biggs says is an admittedly small amount of state tax dollars that funnel to Planned Parenthood through Arizona's Medicaid program, AHCCCS. The dollars pay for family-planning services, although many Republicans argue it subsidizes the agency's abortion services.

"I think it's a principled argument," Biggs, R-Gilbert, said of the still-evolving legislation he is working on with representatives Eddie Farnsworth and Warren Petersen, also of Gilbert.  "The question is when the taxpayer dollars go in for one service, they're essentially fungible," he said, meaning the money blends together.

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Biggs acknowledged the courts have struck down earlier attempts by the Legislature to block Planned Parenthood from providing family-planning services through AHCCCS. And state and federal law already bar the use of taxpayer dollars for elective abortions.

"We have to find another way (to block the money)," Biggs said.

The AHCCCS program has spent an average of $355,200 a year on Planned Parenthood services through fiscal 2014, the latest year for which numbers are available, according to the AHCCCS data provided by the Legislature's budget office. Of that amount, $57,500, or 16 percent, is state taxpayer money. The rest comes from federal funding.

Planned Parenthood officials said the proposed legislation is regrettable and, if it materializes, could lead to costly lawsuits.

"It's the postcard to their base," Jodi Liggett, Planned Parenthood's vice president of public affairs said, referring to the Republican voters who back Biggs and his Republican colleagues. "This is really symbolic."

The lawmakers' announcement tracks with efforts by other states to bar funding for Planned Parenthood after congressional attempts to do so failed. The efforts got renewed focus this year after the revelation of secretly recorded videos that purported to show the agency trafficking in the sale of fetus body parts. Planned Parenthood has denied it sells fetal tissue for profit.

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Liggett said Arizona's effort is likely doomed to fail, noting the previous court rulings.

"If you hate abortion, you should love family planning," she said.

In addition to legislation that would stop any taxpayer money from going to the agency, a bill that Biggs said would have to be worded "very carefully," he anticipates a companion bill that would aim at stopping the sale of fetal tissue.

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Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl