A crowd of 30 people gathered in front of Sen. Barbara Boxer’s office Friday to protest federal budget cuts that would eliminate funding for preventive health care services offered at abortion rights clinics like Planned Parenthood. 

The rally was in response to the Congressman Mike Pence’s Title X Abortion Prohibition Act introduced earlier this year, which, if passed, would cut all federal funding for health care going to abortion rights organizations. 

Demonstrators at Friday’s rally say Pence’s proposal would cut more than $300 million in preventive health care funding that would go towards services like routine physicals for men and women, STD testing, pregnancy testing and annual cancer screenings. 

Celinda Vazquez, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, said at the rally that the cuts would be devastating for the organization as it serves more than 800,000 clients per year--Los Angeles serving 120,000 people alone. 

“A lot of women and families are going to lose access to preventative health care services,” said Vazquez. “A lot of our patients do not have any other form of health insurance. This is it.” 

The Title X Family Planning program was enacted in 1970 by former President Nixon as a way to provide contraceptive and other related health services for low-income individuals. Currently, however, federal funding is not allowed for the purposes of abortions.  

Others at the rally were previous clients of Planned Parenthood and spoke of what they would lose with the passing of the budget cuts. 

Dinah Stephens, who started as an intern three years ago and now works as a public affairs specialist, said the organization and the services it provides are necessary resources for many people. 

“When I was in college and after college, before I had a job with benefits, I certainly relied on Planned Parenthood for my annual exams and my birth controls,” Stephens said. “I think it’s something we’ve almost come to see as a given; if we don’t have insurance we can get our annual exams at Planned Parenthood.”

For others like Alley Bartley, a 20-year-old student at El Camino College, the rally was more personal. 

“I recently got an abortion,” Bartley said. “If it wasn’t for Planned Parenthood, I wouldn’t have been able to get the surgery and my entire life would’ve turned out differently.” 

Bartley, who still relies on the organization for contraceptives, says that cutting funding for preventative care would prove to be costly. 

“Say my birth control fails and I end up in the same position, then what am I suppose to do?” Bartley said. “I would not be able to provide for the child in the way that would be necessary, which means that I would eventually have to take on other governmental funding programs like WIC.” 

Despite the strong support from many abortion rights advocates, proponents of the cut say that it is unfair to spend taxpayer money to support any organization that provides abortions. 

“The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X,” said Pence while addressing the House in proposing the budget cuts. 

Pence clarified that none of the Title X funding would be cut from other family planning clinics but only funding given to organization that provide abortions. 

“I applaud much of the work done in Title X clinics across this country: breast cancer screening, HIV protection, education, counseling, pregnancy diagnosis,” said Pence. Pence’s office could not be contacted for comments.

Reach reporter Jacob Chung here.