CBO Warns: Defunding Planned Parenthood Would Lead to Additional Births

abortion-pro-choice-AP
Dr. Susan Berry

The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report on the House Republicans’ healthcare plan says the included provision to defund Planned Parenthood would result in “additional births stemming from the reduced access” to “services that help women avert pregnancies.”

The CBO report states:

To the extent that there would be reductions in access to care under the legislation, they would affect services that help women avert pregnancies. The people most likely to experience reduced access to care would probably reside in areas without other health care clinics or medical practitioners who serve low-income populations. CBO projects that about 15 percent of those people would lose access to care.

The government would incur some costs for Medicaid beneficiaries currently served by affected entities because the costs of about 45 percent of all births are paid for by the Medicaid program. CBO estimates that the additional births stemming from the reduced access under the legislation would add to federal spending for Medicaid. In addition, some of those children would themselves qualify for Medicaid and possibly for other federal programs.

However, if more Americans currently on Obamacare’s expanded Medicaid become employed, it is likely fewer Americans would be having the medical costs associated with their babies’ births paid for by fellow taxpayers.

The Republican plan calls for the elimination of federal funding for the nation’s largest abortion business for a period of one year. CBO estimates the provision would reduce direct spending by $178 million in 2017 and by $234 million between 2017-2026.

CBO expects during the one-year period in which Planned Parenthood receives no federal funding, “The number of births in the Medicaid program would increase by several thousand, increasing direct spending for Medicaid by $21 million in 2017 and by $77 million over the 2017-2026 period.”

Vice President Mike Pence met last week with pro-life leaders and assured them the final healthcare proposal would protect the sanctity of human life.

Also last week, President Donald Trump informed Planned Parenthood it would have to quit performing abortions in order to keep its federal taxpayer funding.

Planned Parenthood’s executive vice president Dawn Laguens responded in an op-ed at Marie Claire with the claim that the White House “tried to pressure us to stop providing abortions.”

Laguens said:

Our response is short and simple: No way. Providing safe and legal abortion is central to our mission of giving all people the care and information they need to make their own decisions. Abortion is a legal right and a health care service that should not be shamed or stigmatized by politicians, especially since 1 in 3 women in this country will have one at some point in her life.

Similarly, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards tweeted, that abortion is “equally vital to our mission.”

David Daleiden, producer of the undercover videos that alleged Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted babies for a profit, reacted to Breitbart News saying, “Abortion is equally ‘vital to our mission’ as birth control or cancer screening. So much for ‘only 3%,’” —  referring to Planned Parenthood’s common claim that abortion is only three percent of its total activities.

The Washington Examiner also concludes, “[I]t seems abortion is more important to Planned Parenthood than the other 97 percent of services it provides.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.