Planned Parenthoods Market Share Of Abortion
Nationwide, the overall abortion rateaccording to both the CDC and the Guttmacher Instituteis declining. However, abortions at Planned Parenthood are increasingand so is the organizations market share. In2005, Planned Parenthood accounted for 32 percent of abortions reported by the CDC and 52 percent of abortions in 2016. In 2005, Planned Parenthood accounted for 22 percent of abortions reported by the Guttmacher Institute and 39 percent in 2017.REF
Womens Voices For Change
Department Chair, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Womens HealthProfessor, Gynecologic OncologyMontefiore Health System, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
If Planned Parenthood is defunded nationally, far more women will be forced to give up the timely care they need to detect and prevent cancer. Its time to rethink the definition of what Planned Parenthood does. . .
When you hear the words Planned Parenthood, its likely the first thing that comes to mind is family planning. This now-iconic institution remains a vital safe space for women who want accessible birth control and reproductive healthcare. What you may not know is that Planned Parenthood health centers are also on the front lines fighting a variety of cancers, providing critical screenings including everything from breast and pelvic exams to pap smears. In fact, since it was founded 100 years ago, Planned Parenthood has become an integral part of our overburdened healthcare system, offering crucial, life-saving screening exams for women.
As an oncologist, I know the difference Planned Parenthood screenings can make. They help doctors like me save lives.
Despite advances in womens health care, the U.S. medical system struggles to meet basic needs. Federally funded community health centers are over-extended and offer limited access. More than half of Planned Parenthoods 650 health centers are in communities facing severe medical-provider shortages, where routine screenings can be difficult to obtain.
Mammograms: An Emotional Tinderbox
Breast cancer: Two words that rightly terrify women. It doesnt matter what race, age, or color. According to MD Anderson, one of the nations leading cancer hospitals, breast cancer takes the lives of about 40,000 women per year. In addition, there are about 265,000 new diagnoses each year. Fortunately, the five-year survival rate is almost 90%. The earlier the cancer is caught, the better a womans chances.
So its natural that women are scared. Its natural that they want to be screened and tested. Its natural that they dont want to lose a part of themselves. And its natural that they dont want to die. Couple these fears with a lack of money, and you have a recipe for anxiety. Many women struggle financially. They often wonder how theyll pay for a doctor, and they fear needing extra tests.
So where do low-income women turn when they need testing?
If you ask the average person, you may find that he/she recommends Planned Parenthood. After all, politicians have falsely claimed for years that the organization offers mammograms.
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American Cancer Society Recommendations For The Early Detection Of Breast Cancer
Finding breast cancer early and getting state-of-the-art cancer treatment are two of the most important strategies for preventing deaths from breast cancer. Breast cancer thats found early, when its small and has not spread, is easier to treat successfully. Getting regular screening tests is the most reliable way to find breast cancer early. The American Cancer Society has screening guidelines for women at average risk of breast cancer, and for those at high risk for breast cancer.
At Planned Parenthood Abortion Is Up Health Care Is Down
Abortion advocates are upset that Planned Parenthood is under scrutiny for its use of taxpayer dollars, roughly a half-billion dollars each year. They are irked that many in Congress are asking Planned Parenthood to explain the disparity between its rhetoric about being The All Important Cancer Fighter and its actual practice, which has never included mammograms and provides fewer cancer screening services each year. They are hopping mad about a graphic that is clearly marked with all the relevant numbers because it doesnt fit Planned Parenthoods preferred messaging.
The graphic is a simple illustration Americans United for Life created to show two trends that have undeniably occurred at Planned Parenthood under Cecile Richards leadership: a decrease in cancer screening services and an increase in abortions. There is nothing dishonest about highlighting those opposite trends. Abortion is big business at Planned Parenthood, and under Richards the industry leader in ending the lives of the unborn has gone from doing one in five abortions nationwide to one in three.
For anyone interested, AUL has produced a huge body of work analyzing Planned Parenthoods business model, including charts of all kinds spelling these trends out in detail, much to the ire of the abortion lobby.
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Breast Examination Center Of Harlem
Both mammography and Pap smears are offered for free at this Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center outreach program, which was founded to improve the early detection of breast cancer in Harlem residents, offering them access to high-quality healthcare.
Contact Info
163 W. 125th St., 4th Floor New York, NY 10027 Phone: 531-8022, 531-8000 Fax: 749-1375
Chart: Why Planned Parenthood Does Not Help Poor Women
Robert Gehl reports defenders of public funding for Planned Parenthood justify the hundreds of thousands of abortions they perform annually like to point out all the breast cancer screenings they perform.
Like that makes it all okay, right?
Except its a lie.
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Hillary Clinton made the same comments during the third Presidential debate Wednesday night, claiming that Planned Parenthood provides cancer screenings and should still receive taxpayer money.
As Breitbart reports, this is mostly false.
The idea that Planned Parenthood provides these kinds of services like mammograms is highly misleading because they dont actually administer the procedures. They only provide referrals to other facilities who can actually do the screenings.
The Washington Post put it thusly: Rather, the situation is similar to other clinics where patients are referred to a licensed facility that can provide biopsies, X-rays or other specialized services. It is slightly more accurate to say that women have access to mammograms via Planned Parenthood, though its still slippery language.
In their defense, Planned Parenthood does provide Pap Smear tests and HPV testing, which can screen for cervical cancer, but they most certainly do not screen for breast cancer.
At the debate, Clinton promised to continue to support Planned Parenthood from proposed de-funding and reiterated her support for Roe v. Wade.
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How Often Should I Get A Breast Cancer Screening
Getting regular breast cancer screenings is one of the most important things you can do to keep your breasts healthy. Its important to follow your doctor or nurses recommendations for how often you should get a breast health check up.
Breast cancer screenings are based on both your age and your risk level. If you’ve never had breast or ovarian cancer and you don’t have any relatives who’ve had either disease, its likely that your risk for breast cancer is average. You should:
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Get to know what your breasts feel like and let your doctor or nurse know if you find a lump or notice any other changes.
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Get a breast exam every 1-3 years from ages 25-39, and then every year after you turn 40.
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Get a mammogram every 1-2 years after you turn 40.
If youve had breast or ovarian cancer or have a relative whos had it, you might be at a higher risk. Talk to your doctor to find out how often you should have breast exams and mammograms. They may also recommend you get genetic counseling, which means meeting with someone who has special training to figure out your risk of getting breast cancer.
Reminder For Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Planned Parenthood Does Not Do Mammograms
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and as people turn their lives pink in order to raise awareness for breast cancer, theres one thing we should all remember: Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. While former President Cecile Richards pushed the lie that Planned Parenthood offers mammograms, there is not a single Planned Parenthood facility in the United States that is certified by the FDA to perform mammograms.
However, this myth persists. A Facebook user created this meme below, and then bullied the one person who dared speak the truth. While Planned Parenthood provides manual breast exams, it does not provide mammograms yet frequently, when the public thinks of breast cancer screenings, mammograms are what come to mind:
Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2019 an individuals Facebook post
Its true that wearing pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month wont cure breast cancer, but neither will Planned Parenthood. The difference is that the people wearing pink are showing support for the individuals they love who have fought breast cancer, as well as all the people who have been in that battle at any point in time. They are raising awareness in hopes of a cure. Planned Parenthood, on the other hand, fired its president Dr. Leana Wen for being more interested in offering health care for women instead of focusing on promoting abortion.
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What Are Screening Tests
Screening refers to tests and exams used to find a disease in people who dont have any symptoms. The goal of screening tests for breast cancer is to find it early, before it causes symptoms . Early detection means finding and diagnosing a disease earlier than if youd waited for symptoms to start.
Breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be smaller and less likely to have spread outside the breast. The size of a breast cancer and how far it has spread are some of the most important factors in predicting the prognosis of a woman with this disease.
Clinical Breast Exam And Breast Self
Research has not shown a clear benefit of regular physical breast exams done by either a health professional or by women themselves . There is very little evidence that these tests help find breast cancer early when women also get screening mammograms. Most often when breast cancer is detected because of symptoms , a woman discovers the symptom during usual activities such as bathing or dressing. Women should be familiar with how their breasts normally look and feel and should report any changes to a health care provider right away.
While the American Cancer Society does not recommend regular clinical breast exams or breast self-exams as part of a routine breast cancer screening schedule, this does not mean that these exams should never be done. In some situations, particularly for women at higher-than-average risk, for example, health care providers may still offer clinical breast exams, along with providing counseling about risk and early detection. And some women might still be more comfortable doing regular self-exams as a way to keep track of how their breasts look and feel. But its important to understand that there is very little evidence that doing these exams routinely is helpful for women at average risk of breast cancer.
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Does Free Mean Low
Free mammograms and discounted mammograms must be done with the same quality and care as full-price breast screening. Just because the service is free does not mean that the quality is low.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does annual inspections at clinics that do mammography. They check up on the machines and all the staff that are associated with their mammography program.
You can easily search for FDA-approved mammography providers by zip code, state, city, or name of the facility. Once you find the facility closest to you, call and ask about low-cost and free mammograms.
Planned Parenthood Out Of Cancer Screening Program
Poor, uninsured women in Texas will no longer be able to obtain government-subsidized breast and cervical cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood clinics starting Sept. 1. This story is part of our 31 Days, 31 Ways series.
Throughout August, The Texas Tribune will feature 31 ways Texansâ lives will change because of new laws that take effect Sept. 1. Check out our story calendar for more.
*Clarification appended
As part of the GOPâs ongoing fight against Planned Parenthood, poor, uninsured women in Texas will soon be unable to obtain government-subsidized breast and cervical cancer screenings at the organizationâs clinics.
In an effort to boot Planned Parenthood from the joint state-federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Services program, Texas lawmakers wrote a provision into the state budget to prohibit clinics affiliated with abortion providers from receiving taxpayer funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings. That state budget takes effect Sept. 1.
Cutting off the dollars Planned Parenthood received from the cancer screening program had long been a goal of Texas Republicans, who have likened directing any state funds to Planned Parenthood affiliates to endorsing abortion. Their efforts have intensified in recent weeks, following the release of a series of undercover videos including one from Houston showing Planned Parenthood executives discussing fees for providing tissue from aborted fetuses to medical researchers.
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Tools Used To Assess Breast Cancer Risk
Several risk assessment tools can help health professionals estimate a womans breast cancer risk. These tools give rough estimates of breast cancer risk, based on different combinations of risk factors and different data sets.
Because each of these tools uses different factors to estimate risk, they might give different risk estimates for the same woman. A women’s risk estimates can also change over time.
Risk assessment tools that include family history in first-degree relatives and second-degree relatives on both sides of the family should be used with the ACS guidelines to decide if a woman should have MRI screening. The use of any of the risk assessment tools and its results should be discussed by a woman with her health care provider.
Who Repeats The Mammogram Myth
The reality is that Planned Parenthood gives only referrals for mammograms. Still the myth persists that it does them.
The way people phrase their speech often hides its real meaning. The media is particularly skillful at doing this. We see this specifically when it comes to Planned Parenthoods funding.
The media wants people to believe that poor women cannot live without the services of Planned Parenthood. Yet, there are over 13,000 federally funded health clinics across the country. Planned Parenthood has just 665. Women do have choices. They can function without the nations number one abortion provider.
Lets examine some of the instances in which noted personalities mentioned mammograms and Planned Parenthood in an attempt to mislead.
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Related: What I Learned Working The Front Desk At Planned Parenthood
Before that day, I had never noticed anything wrong with my body. But after days of mammograms that squished my breasts as flat as crepes, I could feel the lump growing, agitated, first into a marble and then, eventually, to the size of a golf ball. The doctor said it took up the majority of my breast. I had my double mastectomy on June 11, 2013exactly a month after I first felt the lumpand started chemo about three weeks after my surgery.
At the start of all of this, I had just left a job, and I had to undergo a 90-day waiting period to join my new companys insurance plan. That meant I didnt have health insurance. Of course, prior to finding the pebble-sized lump that changed my life, I was young and felt indestructible, so I didnt start a new plan in between jobs. We all think well be just fine, and then your worst nightmare becomes reality.
My worst nightmare didnt concern what would happen to me, necessarily, but what would happen to my daughter, Emma, who was 2 and a half when this all began, and my sister, 16 then, who I raised after our mom passed away in 2009. I was all that they had and I needed to go into survival mode for my family. I had no idea how I would afford treatment without insurance.
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, stood up Wednesday for Planned Parenthood by declaring that its affiliates provide mammograms, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked.
At a Fox News town hall, Ms. Klobuchar took the Trump administration to task for attempting to cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood for America, the nations largest abortion provider, pointing to the other services it offers.
In their lifetime, one in five women go there, she said. And most of them are going there for contraception, birth control, theyre going there for mammograms, theyre going there for cancer screenings, and yet over and over again, this president has tried to cut that funding for Planned Parenthood.
As pro-life groups have been quick to point out, PPFA affiliates provide breast exams and mammogram referrals, as the Planned Parenthood website says, but not mammography.
Ms. Klobuchar, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, is hardly the first Democrat to make that claim. During his 2012 reelection bid, President Barack Obama was fact-checked after saying at least twice on the campaign trail that Planned Parenthood provides mammograms.
Women cant walk into a Planned Parenthood clinic and get a mammogram on the spot, said FactCheck.org in a 2012 post. The clinics dont have mammography equipment.
Come on Martha . Planned Parenthood NEVER did a mammogram. Why did you let Klobachar get away with that one?
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