Planned Parenthood chief Cecile Richards admitted that her billion dollar organization does not perform mammograms, reversing course years after claiming the contrary.
"We do not have mammogram machines at our health centers and we’ve never stated that we did," Richards told freshmen Rep. Mia Love (R., Utah) at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday.
That claim contradicts several popular talking points advanced by supporters of the antion’s largest abortion supporter, including Richards.
"If this bill ever becomes law, millions of women in this country are going to lose their healthcare access—not to abortion services, to basic family planning: you know, mammograms," she told TV host Joy Behar in 2011.
New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney repeated the false claim that Planned Parenthood provides mammograms earlier in the hearing, only to be refuted by Richards moments later. Mammogram screening became a point of dispute during the 2012 presidential election when President Barack Obama repeated similar claims.
"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," he said.
Planned Parenthood receives $500 milli0n in taxpayer funding each year, mostly in Medicaid reimbursements, though it also receives government grants for operations overseas. Senate Democrats have blocked several attempts from Republicans to reallocate those taxpayer dollars to local community health centers that don’t perform abortion.
The organization, which performs more than 300,000 abortions each year, has come under fire after undercover video showed high level executives discussing how to line-item body parts to maximize returns and alter techniques to better harvest organs. Federal law bars profiting from organ harvesting, as well as changing techniques.
Richards repeatedly denied the allegations at Tuesday’s hearing, calling the Center for Medical Progress’ footage "heavily" and "deceptively" edited.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.) disputed those claims on Thursday pointing to a forensic analysis that found the video had not been edited inappropriately and the pro-life non-profit voluntarily released raw footage of its hours-long meetings with Planned Parenthood officials along with the edited material.
"The conclusion of that report says the analysis did not reveal widespread evidence of 'substantive video manipulation' and it 'shows no evidence of audio manipulation.' Full versions of the videos are available on the center for medical progress website and the CMP youtube channel," Walberg said.