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Appropriate Conduct: The Constitutionality Of The Missouri Legislature's Appropriations For The State Family Planning Program, Jessica L. Conlon

Missouri Law Review

Each year, approximately 7.4 million American women obtain contraceptive and reproductive health care from government-funded family planning programs. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, these programs, which primarily serve women who are "young, unmarried, less-educated or poor," help 1.3 million women avoid unintended pregnancies in an efficient use of taxpayer dollars. Despite the substantial benefits of family planning programs, they are not without their critics. Abortion opponents often challenge publicly-funded family planning programs because some organizations that provide family planning services also provide abortions. Their concern is that, by funding family planning services in those organizations that also provide abortions, …