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Medicaid Misinformation: Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape Lying About Indiana Healthcare

Live Action Launches “Standing with Indiana” Petition

June 29, 2011 – Undercover phone calls released today show Planned Parenthood of Indiana clinics admitting that they are not the only source of women’s health care for women on Medicaid. Planned Parenthood and its supporters have recently argued in support of restoring their Medicaid funding in Indiana that poor women will lose access to vital health care services if they cannot go to Planned Parenthood. Live Action, the group that recorded the calls, says its footage shows the reality is quite the opposite.

“Indiana has become Ground Zero in the national battle to defund Planned Parenthood, the biggest abortion business in America,” states Live Action President Lila Rose. “As more and more states, most recently Wisconsin and Texas, continue to defund the abortion giant of millions of dollars, Planned Parenthood wants us to believe they are the only game in town when it comes to providing care for Medicaid patients. In reality, their own staff admit that they aren’t the only option for women in need.”

In an official press release, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards claimed that Indiana’s defunding of Planned Parenthood would “take away health care from thousands of women in Indiana.” Last week, Live Action’s undercover investigators called 16 of the 28 Indiana Planned Parenthood clinics posing as women on Medicaid concerned about where they could receive services if Planned Parenthood’s funding was not restored.

Planned Parenthood staffers at all 16 locations admitted that Medicaid women would still have access to medical care after the defunding. Staffers suggested local health clinics or state-assigned primary care physicians for Medicaid patients: “Your primary care doctor should be able to do [a Well Woman exam,] I mean, that’s what they’re there for,” said a Planned Parenthood in Michigan City, while the Merrillville Planned Parenthood said of a local community health center, “They have the same services we have.”

“According to Planned Parenthood’s own statistics, their 28 clinics serve less than 1% of Indiana Medicaid patients, yet they do more than 50% of Indiana abortions,” notes Rose. There are over 800 other Medicaid providers available to these women in the counties with Planned Parenthood clinics alone.”

Even Indiana doctors agree that defunding Planned Parenthood in Indiana would have little to no effect on the care and services provided to Medicaid patients.

“If Planned Parenthood only sees 1% of Medicaid patients in the state, and that’s their statistic, it doesn’t seem like they are making a big imprint in the first place,” said Dr. Geoff Cly, at the Northeast Ob/GYN Women’s Health Group in Fort Wayne, IN. “I know in our group, we currently have capacity to see more patients and I’m sure many other groups could easily take care of the 1% that’s left if Planned Parenthood no longer took care of those patients.”

However, President Obama has come to Planned Parenthood’s aid by threatening to deny billions in low-income healthcare funds unless Indiana starts contracting with them.

“The Obama administration is holding patients’ health hostage in return for funding the largest abortion provider in the country,” asserted Lila Rose. “This abuse of power is a threat to every other state – that no matter the cost or consequences, this Administration will sacrifice healthcare for the needy to continue pouring tax dollars into Planned Parenthood.”

“Today we launch a ‘Stand with Indiana’ petition exposing Planned Parenthood’s deception and demanding that President Obama revoke his intervention on their behalf,” continues Rose. “Planned Parenthood has lied in covering up sex trafficking and statutory rape, lied about abusing taxpayer dollars, lied about mammograms, and now lies about Medicaid–all in the interest of protecting the taxpayer subsidies of their abortion business. States and their citizens no longer want to fund this corrupt organization.”

• Access the “I Stand with Indiana” petition at: www.IStandWithIndiana.com

• Fact Sheet with statistics, sources and figures available at: www.liveaction.org

To speak with Lila Rose, please contact Kate Bryan at (323) 454-3304 or media@liveaction.org.

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