"Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation's Largest Abortion Provider"
No, that is not a headline from the latest edition of the National Enquirer. Incredibly, that is the title that the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has selected for a hearing that is scheduled to begin this Wednesday at 10 AM ET. The U.S. Congress can find no fig leaf, no verbiage, nor even any doublespeak to suggest that this hearing is anything other than an opportunity for political grandstanding as they re-open yet another front in the War on Women.
Gee whiz, I wonder what the hearing will find?
Perhaps you need a title like that to distract from the real purpose of the hearing, which is to justify not only defunding Planned Parenthood, but completely gutting Title X and leaving millions of women without access to reproductive health care.
Or perhaps this is just a bone that House Speaker John Boehner has thrown to the rabid forced-birthers and their supporters in the Republican base. He knows that shutting down the government once again—this time over women's health—is not a good idea, but is facing yet another challenge from his troublesome ultra-conservative contingent. So earlier this summer he called for hearings. This means that, in addition to the Judiciary Committee, we can look forward to hearings from the Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Government Reform committees. Yipee. Sadly, they have not released any bombastic titles yet.
Read on for more.
This isn't the first time that Planned Parenthood has faced the wrath of the forced-birthers. For 30 years there has been a chronic drumbeat from the right to
defund Planned Parenthood. It has probably been exceeded in volume only by the persistent calls to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Almost four years ago, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation claimed that since Planned Parenthood was under investigation by the House (which violated the foundation's brand-new rules), it would no longer provide any funding for the organization. Even though the cut was restored within three days following a massive public outcry, donations to the Komen Foundation dropped off by
22 percent during the following year.
The American people like Planned Parenthood. It might have something to do with the organization's willingness to provide reproductive health care regardless of patient income, and its willingness to accept Medicaid for cancer and STD screenings. It also provides other crucial health services, like contraception. Americans trust this 100-year-old organization. A recent (August) Reuters/Ipsos poll found:
Seventy-three percent of respondents said they supported federal funding for an unnamed group to provide women's health exams, 69 percent backed federal dollars for prenatal services, and 59 percent were in favor of it for contraception. Both Democrats and Republicans polled supported federal funding for the services.
When the question was asked a different way, more participants said they backed federal dollars for Planned Parenthood specifically to provide those services.
Of those who had viewed the now notorious videos, 44 percent had more negative feelings for the organization. That's no surprise when one considers what the videos showed. Spliced together by
the radicals at the Center for Medical Progress (I think Orwell wants those words back), the videos attempt to portray an organization hungry to profit from the sale of aborted fetal tissue.
But further review of four of the videos found that:
"A thorough review of these videos in consultation with qualified experts found that they do not present a complete or accurate record of the events they purport to depict,” said the analysis of a private research company.
[...]
"the manipulation of the videos does mean they have no evidentiary value in a legal context and cannot be relied upon for any official inquiries" unless C.M.P. provides investigators with its original material, and that material is independently authenticated as unaltered.
It's not like facts will ever be allowed to stand in the way of Congress, but so far, every state that has completed an investigation has found
no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood. Probably because the only wrong being done was by the Center for Medical Progress. They will never pay any price for these bad acts, which is why more videos of doctored quotes and deleted facts will probably be released throughout the fall.
Keep in mind that with few exceptions (rape, incest and to protect the life of the woman), not one single federal tax dollar is allowed to be spent on abortions. This discussion is not about funding abortions, despite how much the forced-birthers would like to make it so. This discussion is about allowing women access to reproductive health services. As a major provider of these services, Planned Parenthood receives much of its taxpayer support through Title X funding and Medicaid. That is where the defunding efforts are focused, at both the state and federal levels.
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Title X:
The Title X Family Planning program was enacted in 1970 as Title X of the Public Health Service Act (Public Law 91-572 Population Research and Voluntary Family Planning Programs). Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services.
Title X funds are distributed via block grants to individual states, many of which are even now trying to find ways to cut Planned Parenthood out of this funding stream.
Some have already succeeded. And if those state efforts need any support, there are U.S. congressmen and women ready to provide it. A
Republican budget proposal that was introduced before the doctored videos were released completely eliminated funding for Title X. Thanks to sequestration and the propaganda campaign, it is likely to remain on the chopping block this year.
The larger share of the $528 million in federal and state funds that went to Planned Parenthood last year got there via Medicaid, perhaps as much as 75 percent of all taxpayer support. (It is estimated that 40 percent of Planned Parenthood's funds come from Title X and Medicaid.) In order to avoid paying any Medicaid dollars to Planned Parenthood, Congress would have to specifically defund the organization by name. That could be problematic. As state after state has found when trying to block Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, the Medicaid law allows patients the freedom to select any provider who is willing to accept Medicaid.
“The cases where states have tried to take away Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood have all failed in one way or another,” said Susan Fogel, director of reproductive health for the National Health Law Program.
Providers can be barred from participating in Medicaid in some situations, Fogel said. They could be disqualified if they commit fraud or violate licensing laws or the Medicaid statute. The sting videos released by the Center for Medical Progress depict alleged wrongdoing, but Planned Parenthood hasn’t been formally charged with illegal activity or proved to have broken the law.
The latest lawsuit was brought by Planned Parenthood against the state of Louisiana, which
removed the organization's clinics from the state's Medicaid program as a result of the doctored videos. The Justice Department filed a
statement of interest with the court which stated, in part:
Removing Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program "without providing any justification related to (the organization's) qualifications to provide medical services would violate Louisiana's obligations under the Medicaid statute's 'free choice of provider' provision," the Justice Department wrote.
U.S. District Judge John deGravelles heard the case last Wednesday and did not appear to be completely convinced by the state's arguments.
The Jindal administration says patients can seek the same care elsewhere. In a court filing, it says 1,146 Medicaid providers in the New Orleans area and 864 in the Baton Rouge area offer services similar to Planned Parenthood’s clinics.
But deGravelles questioned the state’s claims, saying the list of providers submitted by the state included eye doctors, dermatologists and dentists.
“Are you telling me they can provide family planning services?” he said.
Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit in Alabama, where there is yet another attempt to bar the organization from receiving any Medicaid dollars.
Although the doctored videos purport to show illegal activity on behalf of Planned Parenthood:
So far, no evidence has emerged that indicates Planned Parenthood has sold tissue for profit, and the organization says it has gone above and beyond requirements in obtaining the tissue, including asking women whether they want to donate tissue only after they have chosen a surgical abortion and not altering how they perform the procedure. Under law, these steps are only required when fetal tissue is used in research funded by the federal government, and it’s a requirement aimed at researchers, not at clinics, but Planned Parenthood is voluntarily following the protocol.
Planned Parenthood also insists it is careful about which companies it works with. The organization has pointed out that the Center for Medical Progress pretended to be a tissue-procurement company in the videos, but that Planned Parenthood refused to work with the supposed company in part because the questions raised by the people posing as its representatives involved things that are illegal.
The best possible outcome would be one in which the Republican Party overplays its hand on this issue. Its hotshot young culture warriors (yes, Ted Cruz, I am talking to you) may only be hearing the cheers from the forced-birthers, but the party elders should remember that women vote. And one way to get young women to the polls is to threaten to take away their birth control.