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The Spectacle Blog
Ben Smith flags a CNN poll showing that Americans oppose defunding Planned Parenthood 65 to 35 percent, and concludes that Planned Parenthood is “winning,” successfully branding itself as a women’s health provider rather than an abortion provider.
The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack makes a persuasive argument that the CNN poll’s wording skewed the results. In fact, the CNN poll shows greater support for funding of Planned Parenthood than an intentionally skewed poll commissioned by Planned Parenthood did.
If the CNN poll wording reflected that the controversy over federal funding for Planned Parenthood is related to the organization’s provisions of abortions, it likely would have far less support for the funding.
In other words, for public policy purposes, the characterization of Planned Parenthood is important. On Friday I argued that Planned Parenthood should not be allowed to minimize how important abortions are to its operations. While there’s no doubt that Planned Parenthood does more than simply provide abortions, abortions are the most significant element of their business.
There are two more facts about the centrality of abortions in Planned Parenthood’s operations to consider. One is that our best, back-of-the-envelope guess is that abortions account for over a third of Planned Parenthood’s “Health Center Income” — that is, income other than government aid and donations. The other is that Planned Parenthood has a far greater “market share” of abortions than it does for other, less controversial services. For instance, while Planned Parenthood provides fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent of all tubal sterilizations and roughly 1.7 percent of all pap smears in the U.S. (based on Planned Parenthood data), they provide more than 25 percent of all abortions.
Previously, I noted that Planned Parenthood downplays the importance of abortions among their activities by bundling abortions with other procedures. Some have objected that even accounting for bundling, only roughly 10 percent of the organization’s procedures are abortions. Well, in my view a business that performs abortions on one out of 10 female patrons and collects over a third of its revenue from abortions is an abortuary, for the same reason that a store that sells bikes to one out of 10 customers and gets a third of its revenue from bike sales is a bike shop.
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More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/04/12/more-on-planned-parenthood
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Al Adab| 4.12.11 @ 6:24PM
Could we not artgue that any agencies of this nature, whatever their ostensible purpose (ie ACORN, La Raza, Planned Parenthood et al) should survive on their own resources ala, USO, Heritage etc. rather than with taxpayer dollars? The forced realocation of persons property in the form of wealth, money, toward private activities with which persons might have moral disagreement should be seen as reprehensible within a free society. All such agencies should be defunded, frankly deprived, of taxpayer dollars. They should stand or fall on their merits not on a fovored position in re lawmakers.
Could I also ask if the latest CR included the bank transaction surcharge? That would represent an intolerable intrusion into what are clearly private activities. If it is not included in the CR what is the current status?
Occam's Tool| 4.12.11 @ 7:21PM
Let Planned Parenthood survive on its own. Racist bastards.
Wayne | 4.12.11 @ 7:23PM
Republicans should just call Planned Parenthood what it is, and always has been, an abortion clinic. I think the GOP now supports Planned Parenthood, so we are stuck with it.
Clint | 4.12.11 @ 7:24PM
Democrat Baby Snuffers: We're shocked, shocked to find that Abortions are going on in here!
Bert| 4.12.11 @ 8:17PM
Why does anyone believe a single word uttered on CNN no less their Push Polling Operation.
The so called CNN polling group is a family owned and operated outfit and they are HUGE Democrat party Fundraisers and Donors . In fact the family are in the Friends of Bill and Hillary circle .
Please spare us any push poll crap from CNN. I forgot that dying ABC-Disney owned operation was still in business.
Tom| 4.12.11 @ 8:46PM
In other words, Planned Murderhood has to lie through its teeth to gain public support.
NoLib| 4.12.11 @ 10:26PM
I don't believe the lying morons at CNN. Rasmussen should poll this issue.
Mick Lee| 4.13.11 @ 8:42AM
I believe William Blake might have a better name for those organizations that sell abortions: Satanic mills.
brooksannabelle| 4.13.11 @ 10:24AM
Don't forget that abortion is more than surgical abortion. PP defines the Morning After pill as contraception, but it's abortion. As is the Pill. Chemical abortion is still abortion.
So in reality PP provides abortion to many more than that 30%.