Six years ago, Kas Howar of Dayton, Ohio, was broke, homeless and newly pregnant. Unsure where to turn, Howar took a chance on a nonprofit organization that promised free, no-judgment medical help and resources for unplanned pregnancies.
But the care Howar received from the crisis pregnancy center — many of which are clinics that mimic women’s health centers, but are run by anti-abortion groups — was not helpful. The facility was cold and dim, the prenatal care centered on a pro-life message and Howar, who is Black and nonbinary, felt manipulated.
“[The staff] made me feel very guilty for any questions that I had concerning abortion,” says Howar, who uses they/them pronouns and had already decided to give birth. “I was told to ‘stay strong’ in my pregnancy. And I didn’t feel respected. I felt guilt-tripped.”
The experience Howar had at Planned Parenthood for America, however, was exactly what they needed: prenatal care, information about anti-poverty resources and support as a nonbinary person. Now, Howar wants to make sure others have the same options.
They are speaking out about the Draconian funding cuts Planned Parenthood will face if President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” becomes law.
RELATED: The ‘Beautiful’ Budget Bill Is Pretty Ugly for Black Americans
Along with the millions of low-income Americans who will lose healthcare, the bill cuts off the Medicaid reimbursements paid to PPFA for reproductive health services, like breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings. If the cuts go through, experts say, it could deprive low-income people like Howar of the care they depend on.
“As marginalized people, as poor Black people, we often get told how lucky we are to just survive,” Howar says. “I am so grateful to have made it through with the assistance of Medicaid and Planned Parenthood, and that’s why I’m so desperate to fight for them now.” Howar is now part of the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio.
All Communities Need Good Health Care
Medicaid-funded reimbursements to organizations like Planned Parenthood for America also cover free or low-cost reproductive healthcare. One out of every three Black women has relied on Planned Parenthood for services like breast cancer and cervical cancer screening, contraceptives, and testing for sexually transmitted infections.
Word In Black talked with Howar about her experience and how the proposed cuts will affect low-income people like herself. Howar’s responses have been edited for clarity and length.
WIB: How did you feel, and what you were dealing with, when you first walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic?
Howar: Well, I can really tell you pretty vividly. Before I found Planned Parenthood, I did go to a crisis pregnancy center because I was dealing with really thin resources and unsure where to go. I had just found out I was pregnant.
The staff … they spoke to me in a very specific way that didn’t really respect my gender or my identity. I knew I wasn’t going to have [an abortion], so I didn’t really need a lot of convincing. But for me, the conversation came off as victim blaming. I was being told all of these decisions I should be making with my body but the conditions at that medical facility were just poor.
WIB: So then you went to Planned Parenthood. How was that experience?
Howar: Yeah. And when abortion was brought up, I was told to “stay strong” in my pregnancy and things of that nature. In comparison, When I walked into a Planned Parenthood, they respected my identity as a pregnant person, and I felt everything was better. The medical facilities were better, the number of tests they were willing to run, and the resources that they gave me were better. They did more than just give me a couple of sheets of paper like the crisis pregnancy center had given me. It was, like, actual prenatal medical care. You can really tell when people care about their patients. And that’s how I felt when I walked into Planned Parenthood–like they cared about me, not some kind of agenda.
WIB: What do you believe people need to understand about what’s happening with health care in our country?
Howar: I grew up without a lot of money, but I definitely had access to healthcare growing up — through Medicaid. They were able to always provide my family with healthcare for all of my siblings as a low-income household. And as I grew up, I did experience some gaps in healthcare after I fell off my parents’ insurance. During my pregnancy, I was dealing with the worst money troubles I had ever had — I was struggling with homelessness while I was pregnant, so it was an extremely difficult time for me. Since I was not insured the only access to medical care I had was through nonprofit, free clinics. And that’s pretty much how my relationship got started with Planned Parenthood. I think it’s very important to note that Medicaid doesn’t actually cover abortions, so all of the reproductive health care that you get through Planned Parenthood is completely unrelated to abortion care.
WIB: Do you believe this is one of the issues people need to understand?
Howar: I think of Planned Parenthood as having saved my pregnancy during those really crucial early months when I was not insured. And as grateful as I am to them, you can’t exactly give birth in a free clinic so getting insured was vital to my child’s survival as well.
I think sending a message that only a certain class of people should have access to excellent health care is cruel and it will have devastating consequences for the people of my state — and for the people of this country — if they lose their insurance benefits because of this budget bill. I think we will see horrific results, and it’s really important that we do anything we can to save all of the people who would be just decimated by this loss of care.
WIB: There are also proposed changes that would affect individuals’ ability to access the Affordable Care Act and there may be work requirements to get Medicaid. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Howar: I think that that is just horrific for a number of reasons. The people who you know need medical access the most are also going to be people who have difficulty maintaining work because of being disabled, physically, mentally or any other reason. As somebody who struggled with mental health issues and struggled to maintain work for that reason, that issue definitely hits close to home. I think that’s just intrinsically wrong. We can’t call ourselves a civilized society until we’re protecting all of our citizens, especially the most vulnerable ones.
WIB: What made you decide to speak on behalf of Planned Parenthood?
Howar: The first time I saw the opportunities to speak for Planned Parenthood I was visiting the clinic for a health screening. I thought it seemed like an incredible way to fight for the kind of care that I knew that I deserved access to — and that my community deserved access to.
WIB: Is that level of healthcare missing from your community?
Howar: We have access to a range of different nonprofit programs, but like I’ve said they tend to have poor facilities. Planned Parenthood has been able to provide a level of exemplary care that makes me feel safe and comfortable.
WIB: What else do you think needs to really be heard?
Howar: Something I think is pretty important is that the cost of living is on the rise and the wage gap is widening. There’s really no money left over for so many people’s health care. It’s just becoming a more and more common story, with over a million Ohioans living under the poverty line — and I don’t even want to think about how many nationally. Basic access to health care is more essential than ever before, and it’s the worst time possible to be scaling it back in any way.
My family has had a lot of difficulty gaining access to care for themselves. I think they’re happy that I’ve been able to just survive. And unfortunately, especially as marginalized people, as poor Black people, we often get told how lucky we are to just survive. I am so grateful to have made it through with the assistance of Medicaid and Planned Parenthood, and that’s why I’m so desperate to fight for them now.
