Donald Trump: ‘I Would Defund Planned Parenthood As Long As They’re Doing Abortions’

Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Georgia World Congress Center, Sunday,
Branden Camp/Getty Images
Dr. Susan Berry

GOP 2016 contender Donald Trump insists he would eliminate Planned Parenthood’s federal taxpayer funding because it performs abortions. But he’s defending the other work the organization does that he claims women understand better than he does.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd had the following exchange with Trump during which Todd continued the myth that Planned Parenthood performs mammograms:

CHUCK TODD:

Now let’s move to Planned Parenthood. You defended the other work Planned Parenthood does. And now you said you’d defund it.

DONALD TRUMP:

That’s right, I do. That’s right, I would.

CHUCK TODD:

Now, the government will say, Democrats will say the money they give to Planned Parenthood does not go to abortions. That the money they give to Planned Parenthood only goes to other women’s health issues, including mammograms and things like that. If you knew that government money were only going to that, would you support funding Planned Parenthood?

DONALD TRUMP:

Yeah, if it didn’t have to do with abortions. Look, I understand that I have many, many friends who are women who understand Planned Parenthood better than you or I will ever understand it. And they do some very good work. Cervical cancer, lots of women’s issues, women’s health issues are taken care of. I know one of the candidates, I won’t mention names, said, “We’re not going to spend that kind of money on women’s health issues.” I am. Planned Parenthood does a really good job at a lot of different areas. But not on abortion. So I’m not going to fund it if it’s doing the abortion. I am not going to fund it. Now they say it’s 3 percent and it’s 4 percent, some people say it’s 60 percent. I don’t believe it’s 60 percent, by the way. But I think it’s probably a much lower number. But Planned Parenthood does some very good work. But I would defund as long as they’re doing abortions.

Trump refers to Planned Parenthood’s narrative that only a mere three percent of its business is abortions. The figure, however, is deceptive because it’s derived by counting abortion as just another service – such as a pregnancy or STD test.

Rich Lowry – writing at the New York Post last summer – noted: “By Planned Parenthood’s math, a woman who gets an abortion but also a pregnancy test, an STD test and some contraceptives has received four services, and only 25 percent of them are abortion.”

Referring to Planned Parenthood’s math as an “artifice” and a “dodge,” Lowry likened the deception to the following:

The sponsors of the New York City Marathon could count each small cup of water they hand out (some 2 million cups, compared with 45,000 runners) and say they are mainly in the hydration business.

Major League Baseball teams could say that they sell about 20 million hot dogs and play 2,430 games in a season, so baseball is only .012 percent of what they do.

With Planned Parenthood performing about 330,000 abortions per year, Lowry concludes, “Planned Parenthood’s twisted conception of ‘reproductive health’ doesn’t extend to the baby that has been reproduced. All you need to know about its priorities is that it only provides 19,000 ‘prenatal services,’ which means that it performs roughly 17 times more abortions.”

Trump also states about a fellow GOP candidate, “I know one of the candidates, I won’t mention names, said, ‘We’re not going to spend that kind of money on women’s health issues.’ I am. Planned Parenthood does a really good job at a lot of different areas.”

In October, rival Ted Cruz praised his home state of Texas for ending Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state and redirecting those funds to thousands of alternate health providers.

“The horrifying videos released this summer revealed the grim reality of Planned Parenthood’s barbaric actions,” Cruz said. “For far too long, Planned Parenthood has hidden behind the guise that it provides women’s healthcare. The truth is: there are real alternatives to Planned Parenthood that offer high-quality, affordable women’s health care.”

“For every one Planned Parenthood in Texas, there are 19 community health care providers,” he added. “Today’s decision means that women will have access to healthcare that’s no longer burdened with the moral and ethical issues of Planned Parenthood, an organization under criminal investigation.”

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