Planned Parenthood Paints False Choice on Birth Control vs. Groceries

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Apr 28, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Planned Parenthood Paints False Choice on Birth Control vs. Groceries

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 28
, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Planned Parenthood emailed its supporters on Monday urging them to contact Congress and ask for more funding for birth control. The abortion business claims college students need the funding because they’re supposedly choosing between birth control and groceries.

"Birth control pills or dinner? Pills or a tank of gas? That’s the decision college students and low-income women are facing around the country," Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards says.

The abortion advocacy group says a "legislative error" raised the price of birth control and Planned Parenthood needs Congress to fix the problem.

"It was a devastating, unintended mistake, and Planned Parenthood started working immediately to help Congress restore affordable birth control," Richards said in an email LifeNews.com obtained.

"Now it’s 2008, and still the problem persists. Restoring access to affordable birth control is a simple decision Congress can make right now," she added.

Richards said that Congress is close to voting on several bills that could restore affordable birth control and asked for Planned Parenthood backers to ask their members to support them.

She repeated the sense of urgency later in the letter.

"Millions of college-age and low-income women have lost access to affordable birth control — they simply can’t afford this basic form of health care. We can’t afford to wait any longer,"

But Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America, tells LifeNews.com that Planned Parenthood paints a false picture.

“If it is truly a choice between groceries and birth control pills, then many women will make the responsible choice to not engage in sexual activity – an overall healthier decision," she said. "Women will not only not get pregnant, they won’t be at risk of sexually-transmitted diseases and emotional entanglements."

Wright pointed out that Planned Parenthood gets hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal and state governments.

She said the abortion business, which posted over $1 billion in income in its last fiscal year report, should pay for the birth control itself for these women in supposedly dire situations.

“Planned Parenthood could dip into its swollen bank accounts to subsidize the birth control pills," she said.

Wright also noted that Planned Parenthood puts a huge markup on the cost of birth control pills, so much so that it caused controversy in California.

"Instead, greed wins out again and they are using it as a fundraiser," she said.