By Jim Sedlak
Planned Parenthood has been lying for decades.
- In the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, Margaret Sanger was publicly opposed to abortion. Yet, at the same time, she instructed the heads of her clinics to take care of “overdue” women by referring them to a doctor or hospital who would handle the situation in some way other than a live birth (Margaret Sanger by Madeline Gray).
- In the 1960s, Planned Parenthood pressured the medical community to redefine conception from the joining of the sperm and egg to implantation in the womb. This allows PP to say that the birth control pill will “prevent pregnancy” when what it actually does—most of the time—is prevent implantation of an already created human being.
- In the 1970s and ‘80s, Planned Parenthood invented the teenage pregnancy problem by:
- Including married 18 and 19 year olds as “teenagers.”
- Reporting pregnancy statistics as per 1,000 not per 100. Thus, if two percent of high school and younger girls become pregnant in a given community, the problem is not reported as a two percent problem, but as a teen pregnancy rate of 20 per 1,000. As a result, local citizens got upset at the high number and “demanded” a solution. Planned Parenthood then pushed its sex ed programs, teen pregnancies increased further, and PP claimed the answer is more comprehensive sex indoctrination.
- In the 1990s and 2000s, Planned Parenthood claimed it served “poor women.” It does not tell the public that the overwhelming majority of the “poor women” are actually high school and college students who do not earn much money, but who are led into a sexual lifestyle by Planned Parenthood.
The lies continue to accumulate. Planned Parenthood says it doesn’t sell baby body parts despite the clear evidence to the contrary. And it says it does not target minority communities despite locating clinics in minority areas and accepting donations specifically to abort African American babies.
Planned Parenthood’s latest lie is that we cannot defund it because it is the sole provider of services to the transgender community. That’s right! Planned Parenthood has spent much of the last two years adding transgender services to many of its clinics and is now claiming that all of these misunderstood individuals will suffer great harm if PP is defunded. The article “How Defunding Planned Parenthood Could Wipe Out Transgender Healthcare” makes just this point. After all, who will provide services to the 80 people in southwest and central Florida who currently receive services at Planned Parenthood’s 11 clinics in the area?
President Trump offers a solution
Observing all the crocodile tears at Planned Parenthood and recognizing Planned Parenthood’s biggest lie—that abortion is only three percent of the services at Planned Parenthood—President Donald Trump offered a solution this week. He told Planned Parenthood that, if it stops doing abortions, he would not defund it and might even increase its funding! PP could do all the other services it says are essential for women’s healthcare; it just needs to stop doing abortions.
Planned Parenthood’s response was quick and unequivocal. It said it would NOT stop doing abortions. Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, responded, “The White House proposal that Planned Parenthood stop providing abortion is the same demand opponents of women’s health have been pushing for decades, as a part of their longstanding effort to end women’s access to safe, legal abortion.” She continued, “Planned Parenthood is proud to provide abortion—a necessary service that’s . . . vital to our mission.”
After 100 years of lies about abortion, the organization founded by Sanger and currently led by Richards is admitting the truth. It runs the largest abortion chain in the nation. It commits one-third of all the abortions in the United States, and it would rather shut down every one of its other services than stop killing children through abortion.
We hope the truth is finally clear. More than anything else, Planned Parenthood is abortion. It’s time to close it down.
Jim Sedlak is executive director of American Life League and founder of STOPP International. He has been fighting Planned Parenthood since 1985.