Planned Parenthood resorts to blatant lies to fight #prolife bill; UPDATED with information about violent tactics from #prochoice protesters

The special session debate over Texas’ abortion bill (HB2/SB1) continues to attract national attention, with both pro-life and pro-choice organizations weighing in. As expected, Planned Parenthood has been one of the ringleaders on the pro-abortion side.

Facebook ads supporting State Senator Wendy Davis and the pro-choice cause have been a constant presence in my Facebook feed since the evening of Davis’ filibuster, and Planned Parenthood has been a sponsor of many of them. 

I’ll try to go back and add screenshots of the ads themselves, but most of them say something along the lines of the bill is attacking “women’s health,” and often mention Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst or specific Republican legislators by name. (Before Governor Perry announced he was not running for reelection, many of the ads included him as well).

The Planned Parenthood Facebook ads link to this website:

The website is a simple splash page with an introductory note and a suggested message to send to your state senator (screencaps taken today):

First, the whole argument about wanting to “put women’s health ahead of politics” doesn’t make a dang bit of sense. Planned Parenthood wants people to contact their elected officials to encourage them to vote a certain way…isn’t that, well, you know, politics???

What PP really means is they want to “put the politics we support ahead of the politics of people we don’t support.” 

Regarding the message itself, note the language PP suggests that you send to your state senator:

Please oppose all efforts to restrict women’s access to the Pap tests, breast cancer screenings, and access to birth control that are important to our health. These attacks on women’s health will deny access to basic care to thousands of women and will limit access to safe, legal abortion in Texas.

First of all, HB2/SB1 have nothing to do with Pap tests, breast cancer screenings, or contraceptives. Not a darn word of the bill addresses those issues. There is also nothing in the bill that “denies access” to health care for women. In fact, during this year’s regular session, the Legislature actually increased state funding by $179 million dollars for women’s health services including annual visits, preventative screening, and contraceptives.

What the bill actually requires is for abortion clinics to meet the same safety standards as ambulatory surgical centers. Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, the fact is that abortion is a medical procedure and, like with all medical procedures, there can be risks and complications. The bill requires clinics offering abortions to meet the same standards as clinics that remove your tonsils, perform cataracts, or other similar outpatient surgical procedures.

Moreover, this bill will not “force any clinics to close.” They have the choice: spend the money to meet the standards, or don’t perform abortions.

Funny how the idea of spending profits to comply with government regulations wasn’t a problem for Obamacare supporters, hmmm?

Anyway, if a clinic doesn’t want to invest the resources necessary to comply with the bill, they can still continue to remain open and provide women’s health services such as obstetric care, annual gynecological visits, and  (gasp!) even contraceptives.

Planned Parenthood’s ad is beyond misleading: it is a blatantly false representation of what HB1/SB2 actually do, and is an egregious attempt to scare women.

Never thought I’d be nostalgic for the days when they were just a screaming mob, but here you go.