This week has been eventful for abortion politics and Planned Parenthood. Dr. Leana Wen, the former president of the abortion business, was ejected from her position after only eight months on the job. One of the most widely discussed reasons for her departure is that she was not politically aggressive enough for the abortion giant, and the fallout from the new Title X policy could be part of the reason why.
Title X is a federal program that covers family-planning services, like birth control pills, gynecological exams, cancer screenings, STI testing and more. According to Planned Parenthood, the business serves about 40% of the people who used Title X funds for healthcare, and those funds account for about $60 million of the well over $500 million in Medicaid funding. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) introduced a new regulation earlier this year that denies Title X funds to any clinic that performs or refers women for abortions. Planned Parenthood immediately filed suit.
As a result, the fight over the future of Title X has been working its way through the legal courts for the past few months, but last week the courts denied the official injunction and the rules were allowed to go into effect. At least for the time being. What this means is that until the entire legal process plays out, Planned Parenthood affiliate businesses across the country have to choose between abortion and their patients. Obviously, Planned Parenthood is choosing abortion.
Former Planned President Dr. Wen, who was let go the same day the Title X announcement was made, gave an earlier statement to The Hill saying, “While we are incredibly concerned by this harmful rule, our doors are still open. Planned Parenthood will not stop working to block this dangerous and unethical rule that allows the government to censor our doctors and nurses from doing their jobs.”
Unfortunately, her firing the same day makes this statement ring hallow. If Planned Parenthood truly cared about the patients they claim to serve, then the decision to follow the rules of the legislation should be easy. Since mentioning abortion in connection with Title X funding is taboo, does that mean that Planned Parenthood will deny patient services in order to perpetuate their political ideology? It seems like that might be the case.
Planned Parenthood of Illinois was one of the first clinics to announce that it would object to the new regulations and reject the $3.5 million in Title X funds over the next couple of years. But apparently the loss of those funds would not interfere with patient care. That seems odd, right? If these funds are so important to the operation of Planned Parenthood, then shouldn’t limiting those funds have some sort of effect? Apparently not, but it does beg the question, were the funds even necessary in the first place?
The answer is surprisingly yes. Despite having several hundred million or more than a billion dollars in the bank through donations, most of those funds never make it to local Planned Parenthood clinics or patients. For the most part, the clinics operate more like independent affiliate centers. While some people might still believe that they are helping underserved women and communities when they donate to national Planned Parenthood organization, in reality most of that funding is going to support abortion politics not patients. The idea that there will a trickle-down effect from the top is limited, especially with all the recent pro-life bills that have passed legislatures across the country.
Despite the possibility that patient care will suffer, it appears that Planned Parenthood decided to decline all Title X funds nationwide. The business says that it will dip into “emergency funds” in order to offset the lack of federal funds, but patients will likely see something entirely different. Sadly, health care in local communities may suffer as a result. It is another example of where Planned Parenthood’s priorities lie. Not with the people it’s sworn to serve, but to the deity of abortion.
What this week has made abundantly clear is that Planned Parenthood does not care about the health care of the women and men it claims to serve, only about abortion. In order to keep Title X funding, all Planned Parenthood has to do is refrain from referring or performing abortion. That’s not a gag rule, but an acknowledgement that preventative care, cancer screenings and other services Planned Parenthood is suppose provide is more important.
