In Pennsylvania, a lawmaker wants to cut taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.
Herald Mail Media reports that State Rep. Paul Schemel said the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allows all women to get services at general doctor’s offices. Schemel explained that he was partly influenced to craft the legislation by the videos showing Planned Parenthood’s top executives haggling over the cost of aborted babies’ body parts and discussing ways to alter procedures to obtain organs for harvesting.
Shockingly, one of the newest videos catches the abortion company harvesting the brain of an aborted baby who was still alive.
Schemel said the following about his new legislation to defund the abortion company: “At one time, some of the services — family planning, STD testing — weren’t offered through your primary-care physician unless you paid.” He added that if his proposal “threatens Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, then it needs to be prepared to explain why it is better for a woman not to go to her own doctor for care. As recent events have demonstrated, Planned Parenthood’s interests are not always in line with those of the women it purports to help.”
SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately
Of course, the executive director of Planned Parenthood, Sari Stevens, said the organization opposes the new legislation and says it is “a very dangerous prospect.” She said, “We’re the largest family-planning provider in Pennsylvania. It’s about our patients … the men and women we see each day and how it impacts them. Ninety-seven percent of the services we provide are preventative in nature.”
As LifeNews previously reported, the other services Planned Parenthood brags about, like cancer-screenings, contraception and STD testing, are provided at countless other legitimate health care centers in the country; and their annual report shows that some of those services have dropped significantly in the last few years.
For example, in 2013, Planned Parenthood’s cancer prevention services dropped 17% over one year, and contraceptive services dropped by 4%. It is also important to mention that the breast exams the abortion giant offers are actually simple breast screenings, NOT mammograms, breast biopsies or ultrasounds. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists 8,735 licensed mammography facilities in America on their website but Planned Parenthood operates none of them. The truth is they don’t help women catch cancer; instead they refer women to health centers that offer those services.
Here’s more on the legislation in Pennsylvania:
Pennsylvania does not have a specific line item in its budget for Planned Parenthood. However, the centers can receive state and federal funds if enrolled as providers in the Medical Assistance Program. Planned Parenthood receives reimbursement for sexually transmitted disease screening and treatment. Additionally, the state’s four “Family Planning Councils” can subcontract with Planned Parenthood for items such as pap smears, blood work, urinalysis, physical examinations, birth control, genetic screening and breast-cancer screening, according to the House Republican Appropriations Committee.
Keep up with the latest pro-life news and information on Twitter. Follow @LifeNewsHQ
Planned Parenthood’s funding from the state depends on the number of people who go to it for covered services and programs. Schemel has proposed public entities would receive the highest priority for receiving such funds, followed by nonpublic hospitals and federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics and nonpublic health providers that have their primary purpose as the provision of primary health care.
SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must Investigate Planned Parenthood for Selling Aborted Baby Parts
Legal counsel for the House’s health committee is reviewing the proposal, and should have more information Thursday, Schemel said. Information that needs to be determined includes other entities that would be affected similarly to Planned Parenthood, and how reimbursement is handled for uninsured people who should have enrolled in the insurance marketplace, he said. Schemel did not have an estimated date for when the bill might be introduced, saying the state’s budget impasse has consumed the attention of leaders in Harrisburg.
