Washington D.C., Apr 8, 2011 / 16:02 pm
The president of the Susan B. Anthony List has rejected House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's description of the effort to defund Planned Parenthood as a “war on women,” saying it is really a fight over whether the U.S. government funds an organization dedicated to population control.
“Primary care is not the mission of Planned Parenthood – to achieve a stable population is the mission of Planned Parenthood,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. She spoke to reporters on an April 8 conference call, as legislators prepared for a government shutdown that will come at midnight on Friday unless several budget questions – including Planned Parenthood funding – are resolved.
“Primary health care for women is something that we should be fighting for,” said Dannenfelser, “and it's something that Planned Parenthood cannot claim the mantle of providing.” She said Rep. Pelosi's remarks only served to promote the an image of Planned Parenthood that the organization's own statistics do not support.
“They have done a great job, with their large budget, of convincing folks that they are a primary health provider for women. However, in their own documents they have acknowledged that they have only provided primary care to 19,700 of their 3 million unduplicated clients.” She said Planned Parenthood's health care numbers have been “trending downward,” while abortion services were “ratcheting up.”