Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, told the Texas Tribune, “We see 3 million patients each year across the country. For 97 percent of them, we provide preventive care. Three percent are abortions.” But according to Planned Parenthood’s own Fact Sheet, current as of February 2011, Richards’ claim is untrue. Planned Parenthood provided 332,278 abortions in 2009, or in other words, 11% of Planned Parenthood’s 3 million patients got abortions.
When discussing the best way to prevent an abortion, Richards says, “To eliminate the nation’s largest family planning provider would be the worst thing you could do.” Actually, no. To eliminate the nation’s largest abortion provider would be one of the best things you could do to prevent an abortion. But Richards is deliberately misrepresenting the situation because eliminating state and federal funding for Planned Parenthood is the issue. And Richards admits that Planned Parenthood will continue even if government funding is cut.
A defense of abortion wouldn’t be complete without a sob story, of course, and Richards doesn’t disappoint. Manipulating emotions is a skill she uses well. “For so many places in the country, if there isn’t a Planned Parenthood provider, there isn’t any provider,” she laments. The fact that there are almost 7,000 federally qualified health centers across the country (which you can find here) is conveniently ignored.