DISTORTING DEFUNDING

When Republicans talk of "defunding" Planned Parenthood, they are distorting the ordinary meaning of the word.  The funds in question are actually payments made to Planned Parenthood for services rendered, under the law, under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  If the Government no longer agrees to accept Planned Parenthood as a supplier of these services, the Government would have to reimburse another supplier, for these same services, or as happens, too frequently, there are no other suppliers, of these services, in a reasonable distance from the Planned Parenthood facility, and the needs go unfulfilled.

Since abortions are never reimbursed by the Government, that issue is completely extraneous to the issue of defunding  Planned Parenthood.