A high-ranking Texas Health and Human Services official has quit after co-authoring a controversial study, reports The Texas Tribune. Rick Allgeyer, the commission’s director of research, was listed as an author on a Planned Parenthood study. The research found that fewer women accessed a Texas family planning program after Planned Parenthood was forced out.
The study was unflattering to the way Texas addresses women's health issues. Allgeyer faced criticism for his role in the research, and he ultimately stepped down from his HHS role. The report found that Texas lawmakers may have restricted women’s access to birth control by excluding Planned Parenthood from the family planning program.
The removal of Planned Parenthood led to a 35 percent reduction in claims for long-acting contraceptives, such as IUDs. It also led to a two percent increase in childbirths paid by Medicaid.
