Planned Parenthood has released a new TV advertisement that attempts to further downplay its abortion services, yet it offers nothing the public doesn’t already know, no real changes to the abortion giant’s priorities, and ultimately does not change the truth of abortion’s centrality to its business.
The spot begins with several people discussing their priorities in life such as careers and traveling, and not wanting anything to derail them just yet or cause them to “miss out on anything” — rhetoric typically associated with the “burden” of pregnancy and parenting to which abortion is billed as an antidote.
But after a voiceover states “a lot of people go to Planned Parenthood for just one reason,” the ad subverts expectations by having people say they went for flu shots, asthma control, breast exams, and diabetes testing:
[vimeo 177740930 w=560 h=315]
A handful of other medical services are listed on screen, including “abortion services,” though the word “abortion” is never spoken. “There are just a lot more reasons than you think,” the ad concludes.
“People tend to have preconceived notions about Planned Parenthood,” said Sandy Rhyneer, vice president of marketing and communications for Planned Parenthood Great Northwest and Hawaiian Islands, crediting the ad for “highlighting health care services most may not be aware we offer, while also playing to our strengths.”
For years, Planned Parenthood has attempted to portray abortion as just 3% of its business. However, the 327,653 abortions it performed in its most recent fiscal year are still roughly a third of America’s approximately 1 million annual abortions. Further, the 3% claim is misleading because it relies on unbundling items that are part of an overall service and counting them as entirely separate services.
In 2013, Rachael Larimore, senior editor of the liberal, pro-abortion Slate, admitted that the 3% number was the “most meaningless abortion statistic ever,” noting that the abortion giant “gets at least a third of its clinic income—and more than 10 percent of all its revenue, government funding included—from its abortion procedures.”
Notably, adoption referrals and prenatal care are not listed on screen. According to the same logic by which Planned Parenthood’s Annual Report calculates its 3% abortion statistic, prenatal services constitute just 0.2% of its business, and adoption referrals a paltry 0.02%.
Further, Planned Parenthood’s non-abortion services are a red herring as a justification for maintaining its taxpayer funding, as most defunding bills simply redirect their subsidies to other healthcare providers. In addition, federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics outnumber Planned Parenthood locations twenty to one nationwide.
