Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
As Congress prepares the way for the defunding of America’s largest abortion provider, the American Family Association (AFA) has put together a list of nine reasons why women don’t need Planned Parenthood in order to have quality reproductive health care.
Writing for the AFA, Stacy Long reports on the prevalent misconception that without Planned Parenthood, women would not have access to health services such as cancer screenings, STDs, pregnancy tests and referrals – but nothing could be further from the truth. Compared to Planned Parenthood’s 700 clinics, there is a vast network of more than 13,000 community-based health care clinics that can easily fill that coverage void.
“It is easier and more convenient to find and visit one of those 13,540 clinics than one of Planned Parenthood’s 665 offices,” Long writes.
And when it comes to woman-specific needs, there are more than 2,500 pregnancy centers nationwide that deliver free ultrasounds and pregnancy tests. Additionally, many of these non-profit organizations also provide STD/STI testing and treatment and operate as fully licensed medical facilities with complete prenatal and reproductive health services.
So the idea that defunding Planned Parenthood will leave American women without access to reproductive health care is nothing more than a scare tactic meant to manipulate women into doing what Planned Parenthood wants them to do – keep them in business. As it has always done, Planned Parenthood always acts in its own best interests while “spinning” the facts to make it appear as if they have women’s interests at heart.
As Long points out, the best example of this duplicitous behavior is their claim that only three percent of their business is abortion. What they don’t tell women is how they contrive this fallacious statistic. It is created by counting each service rather than each visit. This means that if a woman comes to Planned Parenthood for an abortion and also receives a pregnancy test, an STD test and a packet of birth control pills, each of those services is added separately – thus enabling them to report in 2015 that abortion only accounted for three percent of its work. Even the liberal, pro-abortion Washington Post cited Planned Parenthood for this misleading number!
However, when you put aside the accounting gimmicks the reality is that 86 percent of Planned Parenthood’s non-government revenue comes from abortion.
With Americans becoming increasingly pro-life and against the use of taxpayer money to fund an organization that is also providing abortions, lawmakers are set to finally strip the organization of more than a half-billion dollars in federal aid. A bill paving the way for this defunding process has already been introduced in Congress.
This is why it is so important to counter the “spin” being used to frighten women into supporting this dishonest organization.
In honor of January as Sanctity of Life Month, Long put together a list of nine reasons why women can do without Planned Parenthood while gaining more benefits by going elsewhere and is encouraging us to share this list with all the women we know!
1. Other health centers are more numerous and therefore more widespread and convenient to reach than Planned Parenthood clinics. A woman is 20 times more likely to find a community health center near her than she is to be able to get in the car and drive to a Planned Parenthood.
2. Healthcare at community clinics is typically provided free or at a very low cost based on income, whereas Planned Parenthood also charges based on a sliding scale at the same time as collecting substantial payments for every abortion.
3. Community clinics are nonprofits funded by private donations from individuals, churches, charities, and other local entities. They create little to no tax burden, quite an exception from Planned Parenthood’s heavy drain on taxpayer dollars.
4. Other health clinics are more likely to have the necessary equipment or maintain good relations with providers who can offer the health screenings that women need. Even small, local offices often have basic radiology machines or a working agreement whereby they can refer their patients to a nearby hospital or clinic.
5. These clinics are often creative in the way they meet their communities’ needs. Many have mobile units that are more cost-effective or accessible for needs like sonograms or blood work.
6. Nonprofit or low-cost clinics often belong to a larger network of affiliates or are members under an umbrella organization. These ties help lower costs, maintain accountability and operating standards, and make it easier to find clinic listings. They can be searched for on websites like getyourcare.org and freeclinics.com, to name a few.
7. Clinics that don’t center on promoting abortions and contraception are more likely to give a fair assessment of a patient’s options and full disclosure of what is best for her. And unlike Planned Parenthood, they have the facilities and professional standing to give comprehensive treatment for overall health rather than focusing on one aspect.
8. Health clinics that are faith-based or operate as a community outreach have programs for longer-term care, continuing beyond the need that first brought a patient into the clinic. These may include health-related issues such as preventative care or rehabilitation for an underlying cause that led to a health problem, or it may be related to broader issues such as family counseling, parenthood classes, or job skills.
9. Faith-centered clinics, or those that receive support and volunteers from churches or religious groups, may recommend and connect people to churches and ministry programs. In the long-term, the goal of community clinics is to build relationships with people that will bring change for the better in every area of their lives.
Share these nine reasons with everyone you know and encourage your representative to support the budget reconciliation bill.
