When Planned Parenthood president and CEO Cecile Richards testified before Congress, one of the issues that was finally laid to rest was whether or not Planned Parenthood provides mammograms.
Richards previously stated that a vital service the group provides to women is mammograms, a falsehood that Live Action exposed years ago. The myth, spearheaded by Ms. Richards, has been told again and again by Planned Parenthood’s supporters—even by President Obama.
During Richards’ congressional testimony, she was forced to admit that Planned Parenthood does not provide mammogram services, but she also claimed that she never made the statement.
In time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Live Action released a new video fact-checking the statements of abortion advocates, including President Obama and Ms. Richards herself.
Mammosham: Planned Parenthood fact-checks Planned Parenthood.Before Congress, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards admitted that the abortion business has never provided mammograms, despite popular opinion and previous claims by Planned Parenthood.
Posted by Live Action on Thursday, October 1, 2015
The video, which at time of publication had over 1 million views and 30,000-plus shares, shows how misinformation about Planned Parenthood’s services has shaped popular opinion. Many viewers expressed their thoughts on Facebook about the abortion giant’s misinformation.
In 2011, Richards touted the myth during an appearance on “The Joy Behar Show.” During the interview, Richards defended Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding in light of a proposal in Congress to halt its federal subsidies: “What’s going to happen as a result of this is, if this bill ever becomes law, millions of women in this country are going to lose their health care access — not to abortion services, but basic family planning. You know, mammograms, cancer screenings, cervical cancer.”
While Planned Parenthood does offer clinical breast exams, women are referred to licensed radiology clinics for mammography x-rays. To note that women depend on the abortion giant for mammograms is inaccurate, since there are over 8,000 licensed mammogram facilities in the U.S. and thousands of comprehensive health clinics that provide mammogram referrals. Even the Washington Post fact-checked the group’s repeated mammogram claim and found it “misleading.”
The myth that Planned Parenthood actually offers mammogram X-rays to patients has been long debunked, and needs to stop being repeated. Planned Parenthood does not administer mammograms, but it keeps being perpetuated by the group’s supporters, including celebrities whose claims have a wide reach.
When Democratic lawmakers or other supporters assert that Planned Parenthood “provides” mammograms, this is highly misleading language because it could be interpreted to mean that the group directly administers the X-rays. The group does not “provide” mammograms. Rather, the situation is similar to other clinics where patients are referred to a licensed facility that can provide biopsies, X-rays or other specialized services. It is slightly more accurate to say that women have “access” to mammograms via Planned Parenthood, though it’s still slippery language…In fact, supporters should drop this talking point, given that less than 3 percent of Planned Parenthood breast exams result in a referral for a mammogram and other specialized services.
In October of 2012, President Obama insisted that millions of women rely on Planned Parenthood for “not just contraception, but mammograms.” The Washington Post, noting Mr. Obama’s statements, gave him Three Pinocchios for this misleading claim.
Abortion advocates such as Miss Tennessee, who participated in this year’s Miss America pageant, perpetuate the myth by arguing that Planned Parenthood should continue receiving taxpayer funding because money goes toward women’s health care, such as screening for cancer and “mammograms.”
Even Whoopi Goldberg parroted the claim during The View when Rick Santorum noted that Planned Parenthood does not provide the service.
Planned Parenthood has not only perpetuated this false narrative, it has deceived the American public about the scope of its services. Abortion advocates who repeat the group’s talking points clearly find themselves propelling the same falsehood.
