January 5, 2017
Today, as reported in the Washington Times, Speaker Paul Ryan said that defunding Planned Parenthood is going to be a part of the budget reconciliation legislation coming up, which is set to repeal Obamacare. During a press briefing he stated,
“The Planned Parenthood legislation would be in our reconciliation bill.”
And his statement is rather timely. Just yesterday, the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives released a 418 page report detailing their findings after investigating the involvement of Planned Parenthood and other organizations in the buying and selling of aborted baby body parts. 15 criminal referrals were made as a result of their investigation.
Last year, Congress had also passed legislation to pull taxpayer funding from the nation’s largest abortion provider and redirect the funds towards alternative healthcare clinics for women, that do not perform abortions. This legislation was, however, vetoed by President Obama.
But President-elect Donald Trump, on the other hand, has promised to do otherwise. No doubt, this has left the abortion industry and pro-abortion advocates shaking in their boots. MPR News writes,
“The defunding measure … would result in roughly 400,000 women losing access to care.”
In their article, Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood said,
“Defunding Planned Parenthood is dangerous to people’s health, it’s unpopular, and it would leave people across the country without care. They cannot afford to have basic reproductive health care attacked.”
Is this so? Would defunding Planned Parenthood hurt our American women, and deny them the services they need?
Here’s the deal:
1. Planned Parenthood is outnumbered by alternatives
Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List, said in the Washington Times,
“Today’s commitment by Speaker Ryan to re-direct the abortion giant’s taxpayer funding to community health centers is a victory for women’s health care. Community health centers provide far more services than Planned Parenthood and outnumber them 20 to 1 nationwide.”
Is she right? You bet.
There are 700 Planned Parenthood facilities in the United States. Meanwhile, there are 13,540 other comprehensive care clinics located around the country, according to a study by the Alliance Defending Freedom. That means there are 20 comprehensive care clinics for every Planned Parenthood facility, nationwide.
In Illinois, there are 16 Planned Parenthood facilities. There are also 670 alternative care clinics located throughout the state. This means that for every Planned Parenthood facility in Illinois, there are about 41 alternatives.
A list of the federally qualified health centers can be viewed here. The rural health clinics can be viewed here.
So what if Planned Parenthood disappeared? In this video, Students for Life of America shows us what would happen:
If Planned Parenthood was suddenly eliminated, community care centers and federally qualified health centers would provide women with numerous alternatives. This would spark growth and development for other women’s health care centers as well.
2. Planned Parenthood is actually kind of “unpopular”
There are about 63 million women of reproductive age (15-44) living in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute. As stated on their website, Planned Parenthood serves about 2.7 million men and women annually. This means that about 4.3% of American women go to Planned Parenthood.
In Illinois, there are about 2.6 million women of child-bearing age, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Illinois Planned Parenthood states on their website that they serve 60,000 men and women per year. This means that 2.3% of Illinois women use Planned Parenthood’s services.
So where do the other 97% of women in Illinois and 95% of women nationally go to receive health care?
Community care centers, federally qualified health centers, and other women’s clinics.
It seems to be that a large majority of women look outside Planned Parenthood for their health care needs.
3. Proper use of your tax dollars remains a question
In just 2015, Planned Parenthood received $553 in taxpayer dollars, according to their annual report. As the Washington Times reports, much of this taxpayer funding came through the form federal Medicaid reimbursements. According to state filings, 40% of Planned Parenthood’s revenue comes from Medicaid.
That being said, it’s important to point out that Planned Parenthood is currently under investigation for filing more than 500,000 false, fraudulent, or ineligible Medicaid claims, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom law firm. The fines for these charges are said to accumulate to over $5.5 billion.
Forty-four audits of Planned Parenthood affiliates have also uncovered a shocking total of at least $8.3 million in waste, abuse, and potential fraud in nine states, according to the latest report by the Alliance Defending Freedom.
With all that being said, looks like we are going to do just fine without Planned Parenthood.