A Planned Parenthood facility in Norristown, Pennsylvania, is receiving a $250,000 grant as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which is meant to alleviate hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a press release, State Senator Amanda Cappelletti announced the grant, which she said would “directly support reproductive health care to uninsured and underinsured patients.” The funding will allegedly be allocated for “family planning and contraceptive visits, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment,” but not abortion. However, Planned Parenthood’s limited health care services are vastly outnumbered by abortions.
“I am thrilled we were able to secure this funding which will make reproductive health care more accessible for patients in Norristown and Montgomery County. Planned Parenthood provides vital and necessary services that allow people to access the care that they need and deserve,” Cappelletti said. “I will continue to fight for funding that expands access to affordable, high-quality healthcare like the care that is provided by Planned Parenthood.”
Dayle Steinberg, CEO Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, celebrated the funding.
“We are grateful for Senator Cappelletti’s continued leadership and for securing funds for patients who face innumerable obstacles to care,” Steinberg said. “Investing in our communities ensures patients have access to the essential and critical health care that they need.”
It is a common claim that Planned Parenthood funding allocated for other services doesn’t mean that abortions are being funded. Yet that money is fungible, meaning that by freeing up other money in their budget, money is still able to be put towards abortion.
Additionally, Planned Parenthood’s own annual report makes it clear what the corporation’s priority is (abortion) and isn’t (legitimate health care). Abortion advocates like Cappelletti frequently tout Planned Parenthood as a health care provider upon which women rely, but in reality, very few women utilize Planned Parenthood as their women’s health care provider, and the corporation performs only a small percentage of health care screenings, as Cappelletti admits: less than 2% of all breast exams, less than 1% of all pap tests, and less than 2% of all cancer screenings. The corporation offers little to no prenatal care, and is vastly outnumbered by comprehensive health clinics which do focus solely on health care.
Low-income and minority women are already routinely targeted by the abortion industry, and funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization founded by eugenicists and allegedly steeped in present-day racism as well, is questionable at best.
Editor’s Note, 2/16/23: Changes were made to this post after its original publication.
