Planned Parenthood recently released its annual report detailing the number of people who use its comprehensive services, as well as how much support it receives from the federal government in the form of reimbursements for non-abortion care. America’s Newsroom host Shannon Bream and guest Mercedes Schlapp, a Fox contributor, used the release of the report to advance debunked myths circulating in right-wing media about Planned Parenthood.
In the May 31 segment on Planned Parenthood’s annual report, Bream mentioned that federal money could be redirected from Planned Parenthood to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), which “don’t do abortions but handle 20 times the patients that Planned Parenthood does.” Schlapp, a GOP strategist, agreed, stating that taxpayer money should not go to Planned Parenthood when FQHCs “provide more and better comprehensive services for women.” In reality, FQHCs cannot adequately replace the services that Planned Parenthood clinics currently provide.
As the annual report details, millions of people use Planned Parenthood as their essential care provider, including for contraceptive services which are often not provided by all FQHCs. Previously, the Guttmacher Institute had reported that the contraceptive services provided by Planned Parenthood clinics are more accessible than those offered by FQHCs. In addition, Guttmacher also found that FQHCs will not be able to handle the influx of patients seeking contraceptive services if Planned Parenthood is defunded as “it would mean taking on an additional two million contraceptive clients currently served by Planned Parenthood.”
Bream and Schlapp’s argument is based on the idea that taxpayers do not want to fund Planned Parenthood because some clinics in this network provide abortions. But under the Hyde Amendment, taxpayer money does not go to abortion, even though Fox news has frequently pushed this myth in the past. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal Medicaid dollars from paying for abortion, except in extremely limited circumstances (creating substantial burdens on low-income women who are forced to pay for abortions out-of-pocket).
Bream also brought up the discredited videos from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) showing deceptively edited conversations with Planned Parenthood officials and other abortion providers. Since the videos were released, Bream has often given the group’s misinformation a platform. In the May 31 segment, Bream misleadingly referred to the CMP videos as prompting charges of Planned Parenthood affiliates. In reality, Planned Parenthood has been repeatedly cleared of any wrongdoing. Instead, CMP founder David Daleiden has been frequently embroiled in legal disputes for his part in the CMP videos, and he might be charged with contempt for the recent release of videos barred by an injunction.
Since Planned Parenthood released this year’s report, the claims Bream and Schlapp pushed have been circulating on other right-wing media outlets as well. This conservative echo chamber ignores basic truths about the services Planned Parenthood provides, especially for its low-income clients. During the America’s Newsroom segment, guest Leslie Marshall, a Fox contributor and syndicated radio host, attempted to clarify the importance of Planned Parenthood, but seems to have been somewhat deterred by a disfunctioning ear piece.
By treating Planned Parenthood's annual report as if it contained evidence of illicit activities, Fox News furthered a specious narrative that has real consequences for people's access to reproductive health care.