Planned Parenthood Tag

Last week, Planned Parenthood announced its opposition to Republican proposals to make contraceptives available as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Let me paraphrase Planned Parenthood's three points of opposition:

1) The expanded access to birth control is being offered by Republicans. Republicans hate women. Ergo, vote for Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO).

Planned Parenthood claims that GOP efforts to expand birth control access is "an empty gesture," because (get ready for non sequiturs) Republicans want to repeal Obamacare and support the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom. The Washington Examiner notes that "A number of Republican Senate candidates have backed over-the-counter birth control in races this year, including Cory Gardner in Colorado, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Ed Gillespie in Virginia, Mike McFadden in Minnesota." What the leading abortion provider's press release does not mention is that OTC contraceptives would free many women from having to go to (and pay) its offices to get a prescription for the drugs. If birth control pills were easy to get over-the-counter, Planned Parenthood would lose a tremendous revenue stream. It benefits when the government forces women to go to its prescription-writing centers. It benefits by restricting a woman's access to birth control. By Planned Parenthood's own 2012 statistics, 34 percent of its revenue comes from "contraception" services, 37.9 percent of which are "oral" contraceptives. That's 13 percent of its annual take that could vanish if birth control pills were sold next to aspirin and antacids. Its 2013 annual report shows Planned Parenthood took in $1.2 billion dollars, so it stands to lose $156 million a year if GOP proposals gain ground.