WND EXCLUSIVE

Oops! Mammogram machines require licenses

Obama claim on behalf of Planned Parenthood hits up against reality

Published: 17 hours ago


President Obama took full responsibility for the actions or inactions of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her department regarding the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi saying, “She works for me. I’m the president and I’m always responsible.”


Yet there are those who are wondering if that same philosophy applies to another government office, the Department of Health and Human Services, which is contradicting his claims about Planned Parenthood and mammograms.




The department, headed by Obama appointee Kathleen Sebelius, issued a letter in June that contradicts the president’s claims about Planned Parenthood providing mammograms to millions of women. At least according to HHS, Planned Parenthood is not licensed to perform mammograms anyway.


Casey Mattox, senior counsel with Americans Defending Freedom, wrote in an article at Townhall.com after the debate, “President Obama stumbled into accusing one of his campaign’s largest benefactors – Planned Parenthood – of serially violating a federal women’s health law designed to protect breast cancer patients by claiming that the abortion giant provides mammograms even though it has no license to do so.


“Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.”
Mattox says he should know. In a recent Freedom of Information Act inquiry with HHS, demanding to know which Planned Parenthood clinics have the appropriate license to perform mammograms, Mattox was told in a June 4 letter from the department, “Our search did not find any documents pertinent to your request.”


Thus Mattox says: “If Planned Parenthood is operating mammogram machines without a license, it is violating federal law. The president’s own administration has confirmed that Planned Parenthood has no such licenses.”


He continued, “[Obama] should correct the record and explain that Planned Parenthood does not offer mammograms so that he cannot be accused of making allegations which, if true, would mean Planned Parenthood is breaking the law.”


The law, the Mammogram Quality Standards Act (MQSA), was passed by Congress in 1992. Oversight of the law is the responsibility of HHS, or as Obama confirmed Tuesday night to a national television audience, him.


The law is intended to ensure the best care possible for women. Violations of the law could subject Planned Parenthood clinics to steep fines.


Mattox says that the HHS letter he received in June is important, because “the MQSA is a women’s health and safety law, and its licensing requirement is designed to ensure that the mammogram a woman receives is accurate and dependable.”


“Planned Parenthood does not have that required license,” he writes.
According to the FDA, “A mammogram is a safe, low-dose X-ray picture of the breast. It is currently the most effective method of detecting breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages.”
During Tuesday’s debate, the president stated “there are millions of women all across the country, who rely on Planned Parenthood for, not just contraceptive care, they rely on it for mammograms, for cervical cancer screenings.”


Within hours of those comments, detractors went into action via Twitter and other social media outlets to challenge the claim.
Conservative voice Michelle Malkin wrote about Obama’s claim, “This scare-mongering falsehood has been repeated endlessly by Planned Parenthood and the Obama campaign itself.”


She also points to a Hollywood campaign on behalf of the Obama campaign that tries to scare women into “voting with their body parts.”


According to starlets Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington, the GOP presidential ticket wants to “end” funding for “cancer screenings.”


“If you and your reproductive organs don’t vote for Obama, the doe-eyed celebrities ominously imply, people will DIE, DIE, DIE!” Malkin writes.


On Facebook, one group went into action, encouraging women to call Planned Parenthood to schedule an “imaginary mammogram.”
On a Facebook event page created about the topic the authors say: “Schedule your imaginary mammogram at Planned Parenthood! We all know Planned Parenthood DOES NOT PERFORM MAMMOGRAMS. However, President Obama, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards, celebrities in Hollywood and countless Planned Parenthood supporters claim over and over that they do.


“They absolutely refuse to admit that the largest abortion organization in the country does NOT PERFORM MAMMOGRAMS. We’ll prove it,” it says.


“Call 1-800-230-PLAN to get your local Planned Parenthood center.”
The logo for the event says: “How many mammograms has Planned Parenthood performed since it was founded in 1916? Zero.”
Nearly 2,000 people have clicked that they intend to call today.
WND founder Joseph Farah wrote in a commentary today about topic: “Did Obama say Planned Parenthood offers mammograms? Not true. Planned Parenthood doesn’t care about fighting cancer.
“Planned Parenthood cares about one thing – destroying the most innocent human life before it ever gets a chance to see daylight. And here Obama segues inexplicably and irrationally from a discussion of equal pay into his plan to force employers, against their will, to provide abortions they oppose morally and spiritually. What does this have to do with equal pay for equal work?”


Planned Parenthood has been making the argument for some time. The organization insist that taxpayer dollars are needed to provide comprehensive women’s health care, despite its identity as the nations leading abortion provider.


An undercover investigation last year by the pro-life group Live Action showed that many Planned Parenthood clinics don’t even refer inquirers elsewhere for a mammogram.
See the Live Action video:





Oops! Mammogram machines require licenses