Planned Parenthood Screams “There’s a Public Health Crisis!” But Women are Still Getting Health Care

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Aug 23, 2019   |   3:26PM   |   Washington, DC

Planned Parenthood chose to give up $60 million in taxpayer funding for health care for low-income individuals so that it could continue its abortion business.

Now, it is complaining that there will be a “public health crisis,” according to Breitbart.

This week, President Donald Trump’s new “Protect Life” rule went into effect in the Title X program. Planned Parenthood used to receive about $60 million through the program to provide birth control, cancer screenings and other health care services to low-income individuals. However, it refused to comply with the new rule because it would have had to separate its abortion business from its actual health services.

The Trump administration did not cut any funding from the program, and there are thousands of federally qualified community health centers across the U.S. that still have access to the grants to help people in need.

But that has not stopped Planned Parenthood leaders from claiming the new rule will hurt women.

“We believe there will be a public health crisis created by this denial of care,” Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood North Central States, based in Minnesota, told the AP. “It’s a very sad day for the country.”

Here’s more from the report:

Similarly, Rebecca Gibron, COO for Planned Parenthood of the Greater Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands, said Southern Idaho could be hit hard by Planned Parenthood’s decision, with about 1,000 low-income women in danger of not receiving health care services.

“This was not money that can simply be made up by raising dollars from donors,” Gibron said. “We have rent to pay, we have staff salaries … there are limits to what we are able to do in terms of providing free care without the Title X program.”

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However, according to Planned Parenthood’s former president, Dr. Leana Wen, only “one in five women” in the United States go to a Planned Parenthood facility for care, she wrote in an op-ed at CNN.

But Planned Parenthood’s affiliate in Maine admits that the few non-abortion women’s health services it offers will remain unchanged:

its Northern New England affiliate is working to let people know it is still providing all the same services it did before.

Nicole Clegg, vice president of public policy for Maine, says it is important that people understand what is happening with the Title X rule change. At the same time, the organization wants to make sure that people know that “they’re going to be able to turn to Planned Parenthood. We’ll continue to provide the services they count on us for.”

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood’s patient numbers have been shrinking for years. Its latest annual report said it saw 2.4 million patients last year. And, according to the AP, most Planned Parenthoods in southern states did not provide Title X services at all.

“Women will still be able to get all the same family planning services, but now, the people who make a gruesome living profiting from ending families won’t be in the mix,” said Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins.

She pointed individuals to the website getyourcare.org to find health care centers in their communities. These federally qualified community centers vastly outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities and provide more comprehensive services.

Meanwhile, some Democrat-controlled state legislatures are considering sending more state tax dollars to Planned Parenthood after it refused the federal funding, according to the report. These include Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Vermont and New Jersey.

“Planned Parenthood cut themselves out of the Title X family planning program because their loyalty is not to women but to abortion,” Hawkins said. “Now they are shamefully trying to scare women; but Planned Parenthood should be scared as women learn the truth about real healthcare in America.”

Planned Parenthood chose to focus on abortions, rather than women’s health care, when it refused to comply with the Title X rule. The abortion chain and many of its allies filed lawsuits challenging the rule, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently allowed the Trump administration to enforce it until the legal challenges are resolved.

Planned Parenthood is not hurting for cash. With a record $1.66 billion in reported revenue last year, shrinking patient numbers and fewer actual health services, the abortion “nonprofit” does not need Americans’ tax dollars, and women do not need Planned Parenthood.