Newspaper Confirms Obama Lied on Planned Parenthood, Mammograms

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 26, 2012   |   12:54PM   |   Washington, DC

The Washington Post has confirmed President Barack Obama lied about the Planned Parenthood abortion business doing mammograms during comments the other night on the Jay Leno show.

Obama appeared on “The Tonight Show” Wednesday and suggested that Mitt Romney’s pledge to cut Planned Parenthood funding would deny women mammograms at Planned Parenthood.

Today, the Post confirmed no Planned Parenthoods perform mammograms.

The problem here is that Planned Parenthood does not perform mammograms or even possess the necessary equipment to do so. As such, the organization certainly does not “provide” mammograms in the strict sense. Instead, its clinics provide referrals and direct low-income women toward resources to help pay for the procedure.

These services are by no means unique to Planned Parenthood. In fact, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the American Cancer Society provide them as well.

Still, Planned Parenthood contends that many women wouldn’t receive mammogram recommendations without the group.

Just to clarify, Planned Parenthood does directly provide breast exams, but only the hands-on variety that doctors administer. This is different from mammograms, which require x-rays.

Obama’s campaign said the president was referring to Planned Parenthood’s broader role as a health-care provider. But the Democratic candidate has repeatedly suggested that the organization provides mammograms directly, indicating more than a slip-up. This claim seems to have become an intentional part of the incumbent’s talking points.

The president has suggested time and again that Planned Parenthood directly provides mammograms, but the organization only offers referrals and helps women find financial resources for the exams. This suggests an intentional attempt to mislead voters about all the services that are at stake with decisions regarding federal funding for the controversial group.

Obama’s campaign points out that the incumbent was referring in each case to Planned Parenthood’s broader role as a health-care provider. But that doesn’t make his remarks any less inaccurate.

We wavered between Two or Three Pinocchios but ultimately decided the president earns Three Pinocchios for his mammogram remarks on “The Tonight Show.” He has repeated them too many times in one form or another for this to be considered just playing with words to generate a misleading impression.

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Planned Parenthood admitted last week that it only refers women for them, as any legitimate medical center would do.

Planned Parenthood is not a mammogram provider. A recent paper pointed out that abortion is 125 to 165 times more profitable than mammography. During fiscal year 2009-2010, Planned Parenthood reported more than one billion dollars in net assets.

Moreover, Casey Mattox of Alliance Defending Freedom recently pointed out that, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, no Planned Parenthood clinic in the country is authorized to perform mammograms under the federal Mammogram Quality Standards Act.