The conservative plot for more abortions and bigger government: The surprising consequences of defunding Planned Parenthood
Anti-abortion lawmakers say they'll stop at nothing to defund Planned Parenthood. Energized by dubious claims that the venerable health-care organization is “selling baby parts,” 18 of them vowed last week to shut down the entire federal government rather than give it so much as a penny from the public trough.
The great irony is that if these conservative hard-liners actually got their way, it would result in many, many more abortions in the US. They can rail about “killing babies” from the floor of Congress, and they can compare abortion to the Holocaust, but in the real world, this is the only possible outcome.
It's easy to understand why. By law, Congress doesn't give Planned Parenthood a dime for abortion services. The organization is the top recipient of Title X grants, which subsidize an array of family planning services for low-income women. Among other things, Planned Parenthood's grants cover some (but not all) of the cost of providing contraceptives to 2.5 million women who happen to be at the highest risk of an unintended pregnancy.
