“If Planned Parenthood is defunded in the health care bill currently before the Senate, won’t this deprive women of vital health care services?”
FRC has recently received a number of comments along these lines. While admitting that Planned Parenthood “has done some bad things,” some are still concerned that millions of women will be deprived of vital health care if the primary provider of abortions in America loses federal funding.
It is important to know that there are 13,540 federally-qualified, low-cost, high quality health care clinics and rural health centers, which outnumber Planned Parenthood 20 to 1 nationally. (By August 2017, there will be 620 Planned Parenthood facilities, down from 662 in 2015.)
Women have real choices when it comes to healthcare, and they can find one of these clinics at GetYourCare.org. These federally-qualified health centers not only offer screening and prevention services, pap smears, cancer screenings, breast exams, and prenatal services, but they also offer a full spectrum of other primary care services that Planned Parenthood fails to provide, including:
- Mammograms
- A variety of immunizations
- Diabetes and glaucoma screenings
- Cholesterol screenings
- Cardiovascular screening blood tests
- Thyroid function tests
- Eye, ear, and dental screenings
- Preventive dental services
- Well-child services
- Medical nutrition services
- Bone mass measurement
- Social worker services
- Mental health services
- Substance abuse services
- Emergency medical services
- And others
Federally-qualified health centers offered services for 21.7 million patients in 2013 compared to Planned Parenthood who served 2.7 million. That’s over eight times as many patients.
In 2014, federally-qualified health centers served approximately 23 million people. With an extra half a billion in taxpayer funds that currently goes to Planned Parenthood, these federally-qualified health centers could grow and expand their reach.
To see the sources for the above information and more, please visit frc.org/plannedparenthoodfacts.
