An undercover video investigation from the pro-life activist group Live Action appears to show employees at multiple Planned Parenthood clinics turning away clients asking for prenatal care. Prenatal care is a benefit the organization touts as one of the many services they offer women beyond pregnancy termination.
According to the Live Action video, only five of the 97 Planned Parenthood clinics contacted in the nationwide investigation were able to offer any level of prenatal care:
A voice identified as a clinic employee from Farmington, N.M. is heard telling Live Action, “We specialize in abortions. You know, that’s what our ultrasounds are for, to see how far along the patient is.” A call made to the Virginia Beach, Va. clinic includes a recorded voice mail greeting that claims the Planned Parenthood clinic offered prenatal care but when the journalist was connected to an actual employee at the clinic they were told that prenatal services were not available.
As the debate in Congress intensifies over Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, supporters of the organization point to vital services like prenatal care as essential to the women who rely on the clinics, they say. In their report, Live Action points out that in 2011 Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards said “Prenatal care – these are the kinds of services that folks depend on Planned Parenthood for,” in her defense of the organization.
In 2014, Planned Parenthood performed nearly 324,000 abortions.
