Analysis

Propaganda poll claims to show public support for funding Planned Parenthood

By Carole Novielli | May 7, 2019 , 03:49pm

A pro-abortion health organization has released a poll that claims to show support for funding Planned Parenthood, despite Planned Parenthood’s more than 330,000 abortions annually and its decreasing health services. The poll comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s new HHS rule — currently enjoined by a judge — which requires physical separation of facilities that provide abortion from receiving any taxpayer funds under the federal Title X family planning program. The poll, a sample of 1,200 adults, was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), which has an extreme bias in favor of abortion. (More on that later).

According to The Hill, Kaiser’s poll allegedly found that “58 percent of respondents, including 48 percent of Republicans, oppose barring federal funding from clinics that provide abortions or referrals for abortions” and “found 69 percent of respondents said they would like their state to continue making payments to Planned Parenthood amid attempts by conservatives in a number of states to defund the clinics.”

But Kaiser’s questions to those surveyed might explain how they got those results. In short, it appears that Kaiser presented Planned Parenthood’s unchecked propaganda to poll respondents, ensuring results favorable to Planned Parenthood.

Federally Qualified Health Centers v. Planned Parenthood

Kaiser Statement: “[T]he federal government currently provides funding to clinics to help lower-income women afford reproductive health care and preventive care services.”
Kaiser Question: “How important, if at all, is it to you that the federal government provides funding for reproductive health services, such as family planning and birth control for lower-income women?”

What Kaiser Didn’t Say: There are vast differences between Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (which provide comprehensive health services to women and families) and Planned Parenthood, whose president called abortion the corporation’s “core mission.” As Live Action News previously documented, while Planned Parenthood has shown a drastic decrease in its health services, facilities and clients, community health centers — which are not abortion centers — have been increasing services and clients, helping lower income women and families with comprehensive health care.

New Title X HHS Rule:

Kaiser Statement: “[W]hile the federal government provides funding to clinics to help lower-income women afford reproductive health care and preventive care, no federal funds can be used to pay for abortions.”
Kaiser Question: “Do you (support) or (oppose) a new rule prohibiting federal funding for reproductive health and preventive care services from going to clinics that also provide abortions, even though none of the funds could be used for abortions?” Kaiser later asked the same question about, “clinics that also provide referrals for abortions,” claiming, “even though none of the funds could be used for abortions?”

What Kaiser Didn’t Say: Title X actually does fund abortion facilities and facilitators. This concept is known as fungibility, and Trump’s new rule is an attempt to end the forced taxpayer funding of abortion facilities and staff. The claim that “no federal funds can be used to pay for abortions” is heavily misleading, because federal funds are paying for the facilities where abortions take place, and the same doctors and staff who commit abortions. This is not a difficult concept to understand. Watch:

In addition, Kaiser failed to point out that FQHC’s vastly outnumber Planned Parenthood (PP) on the reproductive healthcare more commonly known as prenatal care — for women planning to give birth.

2015: PP recorded 9,419 unspecified prenatal services, while FQHC’s served 552,150 prenatal patients.
2016: PP recorded 7,762 unspecified prenatal services, while FQHC’s served 559,848 prenatal patients.
2017: PP recorded 9,055 unspecified prenatal services, while FQHC’s served 573,026 prenatal patients.

Undercover investigations conducted by Live Action have revealed that abortion — not prenatal care — is the primary service Planned Parenthood offers to pregnant clients.

Federal Medicaid and Abortion:

Kaiser Statement: “[T]he Medicaid program pays Planned Parenthood clinics for reproductive health and preventive care services provided to people on Medicaid, including birth control, STD testing and treatment, and cancer screenings. Federal Medicaid funds cannot be used to pay for abortions….”
Kaiser Question: “Do you think your state should continue to pay Planned Parenthood for other family planning services or should state payments to Planned Parenthood be stopped?”

What Kaiser Didn’t Say: Planned Parenthood’s health services are decreasing while their abortions are climbing.

In the past 10 years, contraception services have dropped nearly 33 percent (32.63%) from 3,889,980 in 2007 to 2,620,867 in 2017.
In the past 10 years, total cancer screenings fell nearly 68 percent (67.68%) 1,900,850 in 2007 to 614,361 in 2017.

State Medicaid Funds and Abortion:

Kaiser Statement: “What if you heard that even though no payments to Planned Parenthood go directly to abortions, the organization does provide or refer women for abortions.”
Kaiser Question: “Would you still want your state to keep paying Planned Parenthood for other family planning services, or would you now want your state to stop all payments to Planned Parenthood?”

What Kaiser Didn’t Say: Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, and state Medicaid funds can and do pay for abortions. Live Action News previously documented, in California alone, half a billion taxpayers dollars have been used to fund abortion in the past 25 years. Previous Live Action News reports found that in several states including New Mexico, taxpayers are forced to fund late abortion procedures (after the 20th week) done for any reason the woman desires. In addition, abortion advocates have admitted that more than half of abortions in Medicaid-coverage states are taxpayer funded.

Kaiser Statement: “What if you heard that cutting off payments to Planned Parenthood would make it difficult for many lower-income women in your state to access certain health services, such as treatment for STDs, cancer screenings, and birth control.”
Kaiser Question: “Would you still want to stop state payments to Planned Parenthood, or would you want your state to keep paying Planned Parenthood for other family planning services that are provided to patients?”

What Kaiser Didn’t Say: On paper, Planned Parenthood’s contraception services appear to out perform those provided at FQHCs. But when you look closely, you see that between 2015 and 2017, while Planned Parenthood’s contraception services dropped nearly seven percent (6.69%), FQHCs contraception services increased by nearly 13 percent (12.66%).

In fact, in just one year, (2016 to 2017) FQHC’s services increased by 83,000 to while PP’s decreased by 80,000. See chart below.