Presidential Debate, Round II

[erfalf]

Planned Parenthood actually does more than just provide abortions. It provides cancer screenings, HIV screenings, counseling and contraceptives. There are reasons that people, and not just women, get riled up when Mr. Romney threatens its demise to appease the hands that feed.

You know planned parenthood doesn't actually do most of those things, in particular the cancer screenings. They are contracted out to service providers that have the capabilities to do them.

http://liveaction.org/blog/planned-parenthood-ceos-false-mammogram-claim/
http://liveactionnews.org/investigative/fact-check/fact-checkers-confirm-planned-parenthood-does-not-provide-mammograms/

But what's your answer to the question?

[guido911]

[Townsend]

You know planned parenthood doesn't actually do most of those things, in particular the cancer screenings. They are contracted out to service providers that have the capabilities to do them.

What Planned Parenthood actually does, in one chart

Judging from its unexpected jump into the most-read list, this graph showing the breakdown of care provided by Planned Parenthood's health centers is proving useful to people. So here it is again, lifted from April. Note the light blue slice, which suggests that cancer screenings account for approximately one-sixth of Planned Parenthood's activities.

With Planned Parenthood being either the major obstacle to a budget deal or one of the major obstacles to a budget deal, it's worth taking a minute explaining what they do — and what they don't do.
As you can see in the chart atop this post, abortion services account for about 3 percent of Planned Parenthood's activities. That's less than cancer screening and prevention (16 percent), STD testing for both men and women (35 percent), and contraception (also 35 percent). About 80 percent of Planned Parenthood's users are over age 20, and 75 percent have incomes below 150 percent of the poverty line. Planned Parenthood itself estimates it prevents more than 620,000 unintended pregnancies each year, and 220,000 abortions. It's also worth noting that federal law already forbids Planned Parenthood from using the funds it receives from the government for abortions.

So though the fight over Planned Parenthood might be about abortion, Planned Parenthood itself isn't about abortion. It's primarily about contraception and reproductive health. And if Planned Parenthood loses funding, what will mainly happen is that cancer screenings and contraception and STD testing will become less available to poorer people. Folks with more money, of course, have many other ways to receive all these services, and tend to get them elsewhere already.

The fight also isn't about cutting spending. The services Planned Parenthood provides save the federal government a lot of money. It's somewhat cold to put it in these terms, but taxpayers end up bearing a lot of the expense for unintended pregnancies among people without the means to care for their children. The same goes for preventable cancers and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. You can find a lot more information about Planned Parenthood and its services here.

Update: More on the methodology behind the chart, which unbundles services from customers. Note that Planned Parenthood served about three million women last year, and of that number, 329,000 received abortions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/what-planned-parenthood-actually-does/2011/04/06/AFhBPa2C_blog.html

[erfalf]

What Planned Parenthood actually does, in one chart

That's what they spent, they don't actually provide the service inside the doors to the buildings that they operate. Hence my continued push to figure out why they are necessary.

And again, what's your answer to the question?

[Townsend]

That's what they spent, they don't actually provide the service inside the doors to the buildings that they operate. Hence my continued push to figure out why they are necessary.

Where do you think these women go to get the help?

[erfalf]

"The truth is, Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms," she wrote. "Planned Parenthood refers women to mammography providers, serving as the middlewoman, if you will."

http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2012/sep/25/karen-handel/karen-handel-seeks-set-record-straight-komen-plann/

[Townsend]

"The truth is, Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms," she wrote. "Planned Parenthood refers women to mammography providers, serving as the middlewoman, if you will."

http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2012/sep/25/karen-handel/karen-handel-seeks-set-record-straight-komen-plann/

Where would you like the women to go who need these services?

You're quoting a hardcore conservative that was fired from Komen for her screw ups having to do with Planned Parenthood.  She cost Komen millions in donations.

[erfalf]

Where do you think these women go to get the help?

Where should they go or where do they go? They should go to women's doctors. I believe the some of the only doctors PP actually hires are abortion providers. And some don't have those either, they contract the service out.

And what's your answer to my original question?

[erfalf]

Where would you like the women to go who need these services?

An OB-GYN

[Conan71]

If I read correctly, PP can't use federal funding to provide abortions in the first place.  I'm not sure how you split that out other than looking at the graph that Townsend provided and consider that only about a third of their funding comes from local, state, and federal sources, and 3% of their services is abortion or abortion-related.

[Townsend]

An OB-GYN

What if they can't afford a doctor's visit for any of those issues? 

Breast cancer - go to an ob-gyn?

[Townsend]

An OB-GYN

You think health care is provided by emergency rooms?

[erfalf]

You think health care is provided by emergency rooms?

What?

[TylerBGoode]

You know planned parenthood doesn't actually do most of those things, in particular the cancer screenings. They are contracted out to service providers that have the capabilities to do them.

http://liveaction.org/blog/planned-parenthood-ceos-false-mammogram-claim/
http://liveactionnews.org/investigative/fact-check/fact-checkers-confirm-planned-parenthood-does-not-provide-mammograms/

But what's your answer to the question?

Do I think it should be the government's responsibility to fund such things?

I think that such things are necessary. I can see where people think that Planned Parenthood is nothing more than an abortion factory and that funding through the government is evil. From what I've experienced and heard though, that's just not true. I think based on the services that PP provide, they, like other non-profits, deserve federal funding.

[erfalf]

Do I think it should be the government's responsibility to fund such things?

I think that such things are necessary. I can see where people think that Planned Parenthood is nothing more than an abortion factory and that funding through the government is evil. From what I've experienced and heard though, that's just not true. I think based on the services that PP provide, they, like other non-profits, deserve federal funding.

So if the market doesn't demand the service, the government should provide it? Fair enough. I just wonder how many people consider it that necessary.

Given that PP acts more like a pass through, do you still think this particular organization is deserving of federal funding?

In my opinion, why not just subsidize the actual service provider? I'm not anti-PP-services (although personally I would never consider abortion as an option, but that's me), I am just anti government waste. And in my opinion, PP is nothing more than a government paid advocate. I think they spend somewhere in the $50M range on public policy related expenses. If a non-profit (which do provide services that aid women as well) spent more than 50 cents, they would have their 501(c)(3) charter burned immediately.