True or False: birth control reduces human abortion? Planned Parenthood’s Erin Davison-Rippey asserts that “limiting birth-control access increases abortion” (Des Moines Register, August 4th).
Planned Parenthoods’ associates at the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute disagree. Their website acknowledges that “in 2014, 51% of abortion patients were using a contraceptive method in the month they became pregnant.”
Their associates at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Britain’s largest abortion provider, also disagree with Ms. Davison-Rippey. Their former director, Ann Furedi, explains:
“It is clear that women cannot manage their fertility by means of contraception alone.
Contraception lets couples down. A recent survey of more than 2000 women requesting abortions at clinics run by BPAS, Britain’s largest abortion provider, found that almost 60% claim to have been using contraception at the time they became pregnant. Nearly 20% said that they were on the pill. Such findings are comparable to several other smaller studies published during the last decade.”
A former Planned Parenthood director from Texas also disagrees. Ramona Trevino saw first hand that birth control actually increases human abortion:
“Working for a non-abortion center made it clear to me that contraception and abortion are two sides of the same coin. One does not exist without the other… Contraception creates a market for abortion by promoting promiscuity and providing men and women a false sense of security against an unintended pregnancy. The more promiscuous people are (especially young people), the more likely they’ll become pregnant.
The more people use birth control and adopt a contraceptive mentality, the higher the odds that they’ll seek an abortion. Because, let’s face it, if they’re using birth control, a child is not part of the ‘plan.’ Abortion is the backup, so to speak, for contraceptive failure, misuse, or lack of self-control.”
In other words, Ms. Davison-Rippey’s pro-abortion peer group are forthright in dismissing her premise that birth control has anything to do with reducing the incidence of abortion, and in fact, does just the opposite as the data reveals.
She laments that Planned Parenthood no longer receives taxpayer dollars from the state of Iowa or the federal government, funding PP willingly relinquished in order to preserve their lucrative abortion business. These monies are available exclusively to authentic healthcare providers that don’t perform abortion.
A Planned Parenthood fact sheet asserts that “three percent of all Planned Parenthood health services are abortion services.” And yet their former director, Dr. Leana Wen, identified abortion as their “core mission.” In fact, abortion represents 52% of the organization’s non-government health services revenue, according to the pro-life watch dog, Live Action. That’s why Planned Parenthood took a pass on taking taxpayer dollars. They’d lose a lot more if they gave up aborting Iowa babies.
Ms. Davison-Rippey sounds a false alarm when she suggests that this lack of funding impacts reproductive healthcare for Iowa women. For the record, Planned Parenthood is NOT the only provider of birth control in Iowa. Their 9 facilities are all located in urban locations, including three in Des Moines, and one each in Council Bluffs, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Ames, and Cedar Falls, providing no service to rural families.
By contrast, the Iowa Coalition of Pro Life leaders identified 157 qualified medical facilities (2017 audit) spread throughout the state of Iowa, including rural areas. They provided the same services as Planned Parenthood, without the abortions.
Shifting family planning dollars away from Planned Parenthood’s abortion-centric urban facilities to rural community health centers cuts drive times for these rural families, who represent 43% of our state.
Ultimately, Iowans and Americans overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer-funded abortions. The progressive website, Slate, even acknowledges this reality:
“In every poll, a plurality of Americans opposes public funding of abortions. In every poll but one, that plurality is a majority. The questions vary, but the result is the same. Respondents support “banning federal funding for abortion…”
Iowans for LIFE agrees with Ms. Davison-Rippey in one respect. “Politicians must listen to a majority of Iowans” and understand they don’t want their tax dollars used to abort Iowa babies.
