Bruce Japsen, a Forbes [1] contributor who writes about health care, defended the continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood’s 700 health centers. He said that people calling for defunding were essentially saying if patients “like their [Planned Parenthood] health center, they can’t keep it.”
Japsen made that defense during a debate over Planned Parenthood defunding on “Forbes on FOX” on Aug. 8. His position was in the minority, with several others guests saying the group should lose federal funding.
Later in the broadcast he also refused to address the “picking apart of human bodies” by arguing there is a health care “access” problem for low-income people and strongly implied Planned Parenthood is the solution for education on “whether to have a child or not” and for “outpatient services” like pap smears.
“Isn’t that a good thing,” Japsen asked. His claims echoed the talking points of Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards who has been on defense as undercover videos surfaced about the abortion-provider.
The notion government subsidies must continue, they claim, because women depend on them as a last-line of healthcare defense is one of Richards’ claims: “Planned Parenthood is their only doctor…” [2]
In defending Planned Parenthood, Japsen overlooked some important statistics:
1) There are over 5,000 hospitals [3] in the USA, according to the American Hospital Association. Every citizen in every community in America can follow the ubiquitous signage, the blue “H” pointing the way to health care.
2) Planned Parenthood is not the sole source for women’s health care. There are some 9,000 urgent care facilities [4], according to Becker’s Hospital Review. There are also 2,000 pregnancy care centers [5] (many located within range of a Planned Parenthood office), The Daily Signal reported.
3) Defunding Planned Parenthood’s from federal tax dollars does not necessarily mean any Planned Parenthood office would close. Indeed, the reverse has occurred. As the funding for Planned Parenthood has increased, Life News reported that the number of clinics has decreased [6].
But that reduction of “access” hasn’t caused a media backlash over Planned. Because the service Planned Parenthood promoters really care about’ has not been reduced.
Americans United for Life [7] has pointed out that the real business of Planned Parenthood is not patient care. Richards’ group is in a different business altogether: “Abortion Inc.” [8] Planned Parenthood has a corporate mandate [9] that each affiliate must perform abortions.
A woman seeking healthcare has a number of alternatives to Planned Parenthood, something other guests on “Forbes on Fox” noted, but Japsen did not.