Response to April 28 Article Featuring Planned Parenthood
By Skye Lewis and Savannah Nelson
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ad
In the April 28 Collegian article, the interviewed member of Students for Life made several false claims about Planned Parenthood. Faulkner is quoted, saying, “The Supreme Court just ruled that one in five Planned Parenthoods have been illegally harvesting baby organs and selling them.”
We researched this claim and found that it is a misquote from the Center for Medical Progress, which is an unreliable source as it is heavily biased in favor of pro-life views. Two representatives from the Center gave “evidence” which used highly-edited videos to frame Planned Parenthood representatives for selling fetal tissue. The pair were in turn indicted for editing government records and forging documents.
The group that came to campus, “We don’t need Planned Parenthood,” was created after the Center released their “evidence.” The Center’s website states that “nearly one in five abortion clinics are selling baby parts to StemExpress.” Planned Parenthood is not the specific target in this claim. Following this information, we looked to StemExpress for their side of the story. StemExpress states, “StemExpress’s cooperation with the Select Panel (Investigative Panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee) comes after fully cooperating with three other committees in the House and the Senate, none of which determined that StemExpress’s support of fetal tissue research was inappropriate.”
The Supreme Court has not ruled against Planned Parenthood for selling fetal tissue. The case started by the Center for Medical Progress took place in Harris County, Texas and was originally the CMP suing Planned Parenthood but resulted in the indictment of two CMP representatives for the above-mentioned document forging. Planned Parenthood is federally funded in all cases except abortion, which was enforced by the Hyde Amendment.
Responding to another statement in the April 28 article, Planned Parenthood has six areas of service. Faulkner stated that there are only seven services provided. The six areas include contraception, women’s health services, STI/STD testing and treatment, cancer screening and prevention and abortion services. For each of these areas, there are a multitude of services provided. Planned Parenthood also provides family practice for men and women, adoption referrals, urinary tract infection treatment and other procedures for both men and women. Planned Parenthood’s website states that 4,665,000 people are “provided with sexual and reproductive health care and education by Planned Parenthood each year,” 79 percent of which are below poverty level. Planned Parenthood also prevents unintended pregnancy for 79 percent of their patients.
Lastly, one in five women in the United States has visited a Planned Parenthood health center. Planned Parenthood is an important resource for millions of people across the country. The statements in the April 28 article are damaging and misleading.
Feedback and letters to the editor can be sent to letters@collegian.com.
