Planned Parenthood Statement on Rep. Pence’s Continued Misleading Attacks on Planned Parenthood

Statement by Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on Rep. Pence’s Continued Misleading Attacks on Planned Parenthood

[Rep. Mike Pence appeared on ABC’s This Week with Christiane Amanpour, VIDEO]

“Having failed for now to eliminate breast exams, cancer screenings and birth control that millions of American women count on, Representative Mike Pence continues his misleading and outrageous attacks on Planned Parenthood and the preventive health care our doctors and nurses provide. Representative Pence well knows that for over 30 years not a dollar of federal funding that Planned Parenthood has received to provide preventive and basic health care has paid for abortion, but he continues to mislead everyone he talks to. Thankfully the media is beginning to hold Mr. Pence accountable for his intentionally misleading words.  

“The fact is more than 90 percent of the health care Planned Parenthood provides is basic and preventive. Representative Pence’s proposals would bar Planned Parenthood from delivering care through federal programs like Medicaid that help millions of women access birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, immunizations, HIV testing, and testing and treatment for other STIs.

“Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of family planning and birth control in America, and we do more than any organization to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion.

“Planned Parenthood is about making women healthy and saving their lives. Planned Parenthood does not want one woman to be diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer, when our health centers could have caught that cancer through early screening. Every year we provide nearly one million screenings for cervical cancer and 830,000 breast exams. We also provide affordable birth control to nearly 2.5 million patients and nearly four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV testing.

“At a time when the nation begs our leaders to keep focused on the economy and jobs, Representative Pence and House Republican leaders have made it clear that they simply don’t care about the health and safety of American women. Their attack on Title X health programs exposes a cynical and coldhearted willingness to further a divisive political agenda even if it will deny women access to lifesaving cancer screenings and birth control. Thankfully, the president and the Senate have made clear this is unacceptable, and we are confident that they will stand firm in their commitment to American’s women.”

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BACKGROUND:

FACT: It was Rep. Pence who last Thursday on MSNBC Morning Joe insisted that he would shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding. See the video HERE.

FACT: Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican Whip, was forced to walk back his false assertion on the Senate floor that abortion accounts for “well over 90 percent” of Planned Parenthood’s work (the correct figure is three percent). In a statement to CNN, Sen. Kyl’s office claimed that “his remark was not intended to be a factual statement.”
[Think Progress, http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/08/kyl-walks-back-claim-about-planned-parenthoo/]