The pro-life group Live Action continued its history of exposing Planned Parenthood this week with a new video reporting they contacted 97 Planned Parenthood clinics across the organization's 41 affiliates where undercover recording is legally allowed, and only five said they offered any form of prenatal care.
That doesn't match the public record, as its video notes Planned Parenthood boss Cecile Richards stating in 2011 that prenatal care was included in the list of "the kinds of services that people depend on Planned Parenthood for."
Brittany Hughes at our MRCTV blog did some Internet sleuthing on nearby clinics:
I found a relatively nearby clinic that does offer “pregnancy services,” located in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, a closer look at the clinic's website revealed the only “pregnancy service” it actually offers is “pregnancy planning services.”
In fact, “If you choose to continue a pregnancy, we will provide you with a list of resources to help you obtain prenatal care,” the website stated.
As usual, the liberal media yawned...except Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum called the video “idiotic.” Of course, they don’t do prenatal care:
I'm sure you're wondering what the catch is. The answer is: there isn't one. Planned Parenthood is very clear about their mission. Here it is:
Planned Parenthood health centers focus on prevention: 80 percent of our patients receive services to prevent unintended pregnancy....
Page 30 [of their annual report] provides more detailed data: Prenatal visits accounted for 17,149 "clinical interactions" out of a total of 9,455,582. That's 0.18 percent of the total. I've added the blue sliver at the top to illustrate this.
In other words, Planned Parenthood doesn't pretend that prenatal care represents a big share of what they do.
Oh, but leftists in the media do pretend prenatal care is a piece of the Planned Parenthood pie. Just consider MSNBC. A quick Nexis search demonstrates that they implied cutting Planned Parenthood was a war on prenatal care, like on All In on July 3, 2013:
CHRIS HAYES: We have been following North Carolina. We have been following moral Monday, and it`s interesting to watch this convergence because it's almost like abortion politics are the black hole of Republican base politics particularly in the states. Everything gets sucked into abortion politics because that`s really where the energy of the base is. And did you figure it was only a matter of time until this very right-wing Republican majority in your state came after abortion rights?
JANET COLM, CEO, PLANNED PARENTHOOD CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA: Well, I think we have known all along that abortion rights were on the chopping block. I mean, this is something they`ve been pursuing for years and years. The difference is that right now they`re in a position of power. I mean, they have gone after sex education. They have gone after birth control. They have gone after prenatal care.
Or try Rachel Maddow on June 27, 2013:
MADDOW: [T]his time Ohio Republicans decided they didn`t want to debate their anti-abortion wish lists. So stuck all this stuff into the state's budget at the last minute without ever bringing it up for debate. They did it at the last minute as they passed the final version of the budget last night, I think probably hoping that nobody would notice. So it`s a forced medically unnecessary ultrasound that you cannot say no to. It is a forced lecture from Ohio doctors even if they do not medically agree with the content of the lecture. It`s defunding Planned Parenthood and other family planning providers. Reducing women’s access to contraceptives and cancer screenings and prenatal care.
Sometimes, they play games and say “prenatal services,” which includes abortion, which isn’t really “natal” at all, is it? Take Melissa Harris-Perry on November 25, 2012:
HARRIS-PERRY: The Ohio Right to Life group that is backing a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood in the state has said the organization needs to, quote, "make a choice between providing health care and providing abortions." No, of course, it isn't a choice at all because the bill approved last week by Republican lawmakers in an Ohio House Committee would restrict federal funding for Ohio Planned Parenthood. Federal dollars already can`t be used for abortion.
The real choice is the one that will be faced by the 100,000 Ohio women who are patient with Planned Parenthood. They continue receiving the annual checkups, cancer screenings and prevention contraception, prenatal services and STD testing that comprises the majority of services Planned Parenthood provide or if the bill passes, to receive no care at all.
Or Sandra Fluke getting the red-carpet treatment from Al Sharpton on September 6, 2012:
FLUKE: That's right. And that person hood bill which Mr. Ryan cosponsored, it would also criminalize many aspects of in vitro fertilization. And what I think it`s really important that everyone shares with the folks that they talk to is that when we`re talking about defunding -- Planned Parenthood, we're talking about cutting funds for breast cancer screenings, for cervical cancer screenings, for -- prenatal care.
