Planned Parenthood President: Fewer People Saves Government Money

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 26, 2010   |   6:16PM   |   Washington, DC

The president of Planned Parenthood appeared on the Bill Press radio show today with an unconventional way for the government to say money.

By sending more taxpayer dollars to the abortion business to pay for birth control, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards contends the government would save money in the long run because fewer people would be born.

Presumably, Richards believes the more people who are born the more people will need the support of government programs and services — ignoring the contribution people make to society.

“I think it’s important, Bill, to understand that unlike some other issues of cost, birth control is one of those issues that actually saves the government money,” said Richards, according to Lifesite. “So an investment in covering birth control actually in the long run is a huge cost savings because women don’t have children that they weren’t planning on having and all the sort of attendant cost for unplanned pregnancy.”

“So we actually feel that covering birth control is not only it’s the right thing to do for women, it’s good for women it’s good for their health care, but it’s frankly good public policy,” Richards added.

The abortion business president appeared on the program to tout its campaign to lobby the Obama administration to call birth control “preventative care” and qualify itself for millions more in taxpayer funds from the federal government. 

The plan would exploit the Mikulski amendment, which pro-life advocates warned about when it was added to the legislation.

The amendment allows the federal government to define what constitutes “preventive services” that new private health plans must cover without cost-sharing by consumers as required under the federal health reform law. During the ObamaCare debate, pro-life groups said the Obama administration could determine birth control or abortions were “preventative” and force taxpayers to shell out millions to cover the cost of them.

If Planned Parenthood is successful, private insurance plans would be forced, and thereby insured enrollees, would be forced, to pay for birth control through their premiums.

But Congessman Mike Pence told the attendees of the Values Voters Summit that he has a better idea for saving the government money.

Pence, the Indiana Republican who won the presidential straw poll vote from among the 2,000 people who gathered for the event, made it plainly clear what place he thinks social issues have in the party and in the election.

Pence continued, “To those who say we should focus on cutting spending, I say ‘Ok, let’s start by denying all federal funding for abortion at home and abroad! Stop funding research that destroys human embryos in the name of science, and let’s deny any and all funding to Planned Parenthood of America.’”

And pro-life attorney Tom Glessner of NIFLA would have another response for Richards. He says abortion has cost the nation economically in lost productivity from the 52 million people who have been aborted.