U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued an opinion on Monday that blocks the part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act meant to essentially defund Planned Parenthood. Among other things, Talwani said in her ruling that allowing it would bring about “adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable” and “threatens an increase in unintended pregnancies and attendant complications.” Talwani is displaying the most common reaction to GOP-led decisions regarding women’s healthcare: fearmongering.
It is the policy of the Left to speak of Planned Parenthood in a way that makes it seem essential to women. We’re frequently told that abortion is healthcare. We’re told that because Planned Parenthood clinics not only provide abortion but a wide range of services, defunding or limiting their funds would be disastrous. These narratives would make sense if Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, dominated the women’s healthcare market. But, in fact, the complete opposite is true.
For every Planned Parenthood clinic, there are 15 clinics that provide comprehensive healthcare services for women, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Based on data from earlier this year, that is approximately 579 Planned Parenthood locations versus 8,810 community health centers. Of the more than 8,000 health centers, the breakdown is as follows: “an estimated 5,500 Federally Qualified Health Center sites that specifically offer women’s health services. An estimated 3,300 Rural Health Clinic sites that offer women’s health.” The FQHCs are indeed funded by the government and provide health services to the very populations Talwani claims will be affected if Planned Parenthood funding is cut. These clinics are far more numerous than the 579 Planned Parenthood locations.
Talwani is saying the quiet part out loud when she mentions the so-called “threat” of unintended pregnancies. Planned Parenthood doesn’t exist to support women during pregnancy. Instead, Planned Parenthood’s main service related to pregnancy is the ending of those pregnancies. As noted in the aforementioned analysis, “Abortions were 96.9% of services Planned Parenthood offered to women looking for help related to their pregnancies in 2022–23, according to its 2023–2024 report. Prenatal care, miscarriage care, and adoption referrals together accounted for just 3% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy care services.”
This is not the women’s healthcare that is in desperate need of saving. In fact, it is not healthcare at all. And it exists as a very small part of the overall women’s health clinic landscape in the United States.
Unfortunately, the marketing arm of Planned Parenthood and its supporters in media, politics, and elsewhere work tirelessly to push a narrative that speaks of the organization in necessary terms. The funding and revenue are such that smaller competitors, including the thousands of women’s clinics across the country, remain relatively unknown. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood presents itself as the only option for most women. In reality, that is simply untrue.
Until the mindset surrounding Planned Parenthood changes, the lies about it will easily sell. Planned Parenthood has been a staple in American consciousness and health conversations since 1916, when the organization was formed. That kind of staying power is not easily countered, even though the facts about Planned Parenthood and its huge list of competitors in the market are easily accessible. It is why Talwani’s statements are accepted as truth despite evidence to the contrary.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD MYSTERY: WHY MEGABILL DEFUNDING WAS SHORTENED TO JUST A YEAR
The Republican Party and its leadership are right to keep a focus on defunding Planned Parenthood. Taxpayer funds should never go to organizations that perform abortions. Such an action does not represent the public as a whole. Millions of people don’t support abortion. And money is fungible.
The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was a step in the right direction toward shifting the abortion landscape across the nation. Pressing to change the narratives sold about the largest abortion provider in the country, while stripping its funding, are the next logical steps.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a contributing freelance columnist at the Freemen News-Letter. She is a mother of two and lives in the southern United States.