(CNSNews.com) – During questioning at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Tuesday, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards admitted that none of the organization’s nearly 700 clinics have mammogram machines.
“You don’t do mammograms, correct? There’s like one or two places that does it, but you don’t do mammograms?” Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) asked.
“If you would give me one moment to explain, Planned Parenthood is a women’s health center, just like where I go for my breast exams every year. If you need a mammogram, you’re referred to a radiological center, and that’s how women actually receive their care, and we provide breast exams too,” said Richards.
“I could get you the numbers of how many hundreds of thousands of women receive breast exams at Planned Parenthood last year, has nothing to do with again, you created this slide, and I have no idea what it is,” she said, referring to a slide Chaffetz showed that illustrated the number of breast exams Planned Parenthood provided over the years decreasing while the number of abortions it provided increasing.
During her opening testimony, Richards told the story of a woman named Dana, who claimed the nation’s largest abortion provider saved her life after she found a lump in her breast but did not have health insurance.
“In 2013, her husband lost his job, and therefore, their health insurance, and not long after, Dana found a lump in her breast, and the only two clinics who would take a patient without health insurance couldn’t see her for at least two months, said Richards.
“So Dana came to Planned Parenthood for a breast exam, and there our clinician of 21 years – Vivian guided her through the process of follow-ups and referrals, and helped to make sure that her treatment was covered. And she called Dana repeatedly to check on her as she entered treatment, and I am really happy to say today that Dana is now cancer-free,” Richards added.
Chaffetz: In the case of Dana, when she came to Planned Parenthood, did she get a mammogram?
Richards: No, she was referred for a mammogram. Absolutely.
Chaffetz: And that’s part of the challenge is that you don’t do mammograms. So if you—
Richards: We’ve—
Chaffetz: Go head.
Richards: I’m sorry.
Chaffetz: You don’t do mammograms, correct? There’s like one or two places that does it, but you don’t do mammograms.
Richards: If you would give me one moment to explain. Planned Parenthood is a women’s health center, just like where I go for my breast exams every year. If you need a mammogram, you’re referred to a radiological center, and that’s how women actually receive their care, and we provide breast exams too. I could get you the numbers of how many hundreds of thousands of women receive breast exams at Planned Parenthood last year, has nothing to do with again, you created this slide, and I have no idea what it is.
Chaffetz: Well it’s the reduction over the course of years in pink. That’s the reduction in breast exams, and the red is the increase in the abortions. That’s what’s going on in your organization.
Richards: This is a slide that has never been shown to me before. I’m happy to look at it, and it absolutely does not reflect what’s happening at Planned Parenthood.
Chaffetz: You’re gonna deny that if we take those numbers out of your report.
Richards: I’m gonna deny the slide that you’ve just shown me that no one has ever provided us before. We’ve provided you all the information about everything, all the services that Planned Parenthood provides, and it doesn’t feel like we’re trying to get to the truth. You just showed me this. I’m happy to look at it.
Chaffetz: I pulled those numbers directly out of your corporate reports.
Richards: Oh, excuse me, my lawyers are informing me that the source of this is actually Americans United for Life, which is an anti-abortion group, so I would check your source.
Chaffetz: Then we will get to the bottom of the truth of that.