Planned Parenthood is in meltdown mode after President Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services rightly instituted the Protect Life Rule, barring abortion corporations like Planned Parenthood from using Title X family planning funds for subsidizing their abortion business. The Protect Life Rule ensures that Title X family planning funds, which were never intended to include abortion, only goes to organizations that keep their abortion business separate from their real healthcare business, such as providing STD testing and well-woman exams.
In a series of tweets and statements to complicit media, Planned Parenthood has been saying that President Trump forced or bullied them into pulling out of the Title X program. But this isn’t true; all Planned Parenthood had to do is separate their abortion business (which they misleadingly claim is only 3% of what they do) from their non-abortion services. The changes don’t stop Planned Parenthood from TALKING about abortions and selling birth control, but the new regulations do stop the abortion mega-vendor from SELLING abortions when women come for family planning advice.
In fact, early on in the Trump presidency, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner suggested to then-Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards that the organization do such that, and then there would not be issues over taxpayers funding Planned Parenthood through Medicaid and Title X dollars.
In fact, we’ve seen this dog-and-pony show play out before, with the 2012 decision by Susan G.Komen Foundation to stop giving money to Planned Parenthood, which does not do mammograms, and instead give money for breast cancer prevention to organizations that offer comprehensive detection and cancer care services. If you don’t remember the story, here’s a refresher, which echoes the temper tantrum Planned Parenthood is throwing now.
In 2012, Susan G. Komen, after criticism from pro-life groups, decided that instead of giving money to groups like Planned Parenthood, which would then re-grant their money to low-income women to help them pay for mammograms and real medical clinics (because Planned Parenthood does not do mammograms), they would move to an outcome-based program. In other words, they would give money to groups that could directly show they were doing comprehensive screening for breast cancer, which Planned Parenthood was and continues to be incapable of doing.
So, like the Title X program, the money was not being cut off for breast cancer screening and prevention, but rather being redirected to more comprehensive, less controversial organizations, which is what the Protect Life Rule is doing. But that did not stop Planned Parenthood from fearmongering, launching a national campaign to spear Komen by saying that low-income women would be hurt and accusing pro-life groups of hating women. But the decision by Susan G. Komen did not have to hurt anyone; all Planned Parenthood was doing for mammograms was referring women for mammograms. Susan G. Komen was simply eliminating the expensive middleman.
Planned Parenthood’s Title X alarmism would be funny if it wasn’t indicative of a larger problem, which is the way that Planned Parenthood plays up hysteria and many in the media play along. For example, one article on the Title X program did not mention that free healthcare resources are available and, in fact, 25% of the article was made up of just quotes from Planned Parenthood's public relation staff and communication directors.
Many abortion-supporting states have also said they will give money to Planned Parenthood to make up for the lost Title X funding. Some states also already cover birth control under state insurance plans, meaning that the cost of birth control won’t be going up for many people, since there are already taxpayer dollars in many states set aside for directly buying birth control, subsidizing, or mandating it in insurance plans.
In fact, analysis cited by Michael New shows that when Texas cut Planned Parenthood from their state family planning grants none of the abortion industry’s dire predictions came true. He noted, “Overall, Texas’ experience this decade has made it clear that positive public health outcomes are certainly possible without requiring taxpayers to fork over millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood every year.”
But facts don't seem to matter to Planned Parenthood and their marketing department. Recently, they announced along with almost 140 prominent musicians in a “Band Together, Bans Off” campaign that they would be taking their complaints nationwide to get people to share their sob story.
We’ve seen Planned Parenthood’s games before; we know that Planned Parenthood needs taxpayers to survive, and they’re willing to lie and manipulate the media to get what they want. But at some point, we have to stop playing their games and move on from their hysteria over a reasonable change to a taxpayer funded program.
The fired former president of Planned Parenthood, Dr. Leana Wen, who was let go for not being extreme enough on abortion activism liked to say that one out of five women will at some point visit a Planned Parenthood. This is a good time for that one to know what the rest of us have discovered: women don’t need Planned Parenthood.
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