Dirty Tricks Continue to Plague Planned Parenthood

Gail Collins wrote brilliantly in last weekend's New York Times about Congress's seige against Planned Parenthood.

Last month, they voted to repeal the health care law. This month, they’re going after an organization that provides millions of women with both family-planning services and basic health medical care, like pap smears and screening for diabetes, breast cancer, cervical cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.

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Our legislative slogan for 2011: Let Them Use Leeches.

“What is more fiscally responsible than denying any and all funding to Planned Parenthood of America?” demanded Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, the chief sponsor of a bill to bar the government from directing any money to any organization that provides abortion services.

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The bill is gaining steam since anti-abortion activists sent actors dressed as pimps to Planned Parenthood centers across the country with questionable requests for help and secretly filmed their interactions to try to expose sketchy or illegal practices. In most cases, Planned Parenthood counselors acted appropriately, but in a few cases, of course, they didn't, and the House of Representatives is seizing on those instances.

More of these undercover "exposé" films are being released this week, the latest from a Planned Parenthood in the Bronx. Live Action, the group behind the films, advertises them in hyperbolic language on its web site: "BREAKING NEWS: Caught on Tape: Planned Parenthood Aids Pimp’s Underage Sex Ring."

The New York Times' latest report included a response from Planned Parenthood:

Planned Parenthood of New York City immediately released a statement saying that Live Action, based in San Jose, Calif., was making “false claims” about Planned Parenthood services as part of a political agenda.

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“These tapes are part of a nationwide campaign by this group,” the statement said. “Unlike other publicized tapes, the hoax patients in New York were not able to get beyond the reception desk for a private consultation.”

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According to Collins, what Live Action's underhanded campaign fails to note is that the 1.85 million low-income women who depend on Planned Parenthood for family planning and other medical care don't have another option.