Facebook is starting to get more active (again) with political memes related to the funding of Planned Parenthood abortions with Federal tax dollars.

Political memes rarely tell the whole truth, since they are designed to lead the public to a specific point of view that supports a specific people group’s agenda.  It is very common that memes take on an IF (hypothesis)-THEN (conclusion) structure.  In fairness, it is not wrong to promote one’s point of view, and it is not uncommon in our markets-driven world to stretch (spin) the “facts” to support that point of view.  Of course, it is always incumbent on the reading/listening public to be very, very discerning – Caveat Emptor (buyer beware).  Also, in fairness, generally speaking the facts of the memes’ hypotheses are pretty truthful, but not always, so Caveat Emptor is again the watchword du jour.

However, more often than not these memes draw a conclusion that is or borders on being less than truthful which is designed to get buy-in from a reader who is vulnerable after being setup by the “facts” of the hypothesis.

Of course, it is most common that the conclusion is designed to poke fun and show intolerance for a people group that espouses an opinion different from the meme originator’s point of view.  By classic dictionary definition, that is bigotry.  Unfortunately, bigotry is a word today that is grossly and incorrectly overused, but in this case, it is the best fit.

Here is an example of a political meme currently going around FB:

Hypothesis

•  “Abortions account for 3% of what Planned Parenthood does”

Based on the 2014-2015 Annual Report at the Planned Parenthood website, that is a true statement.   But don’t be fooled by the small number.  The raw number associated with that percentage is approximately 324,000 abortions in 2014 provided by Planned Parenthood services.  For those of us who believe human life begins at conception, that 3% number is not good news, as the people group behind the meme would like us to believe.  In fact, it is terrible news that in their very early development stage the lives of so many children are terminated intentionally in one year.  Where is the outrage from our culture that espouses tolerance for all human beings, e.g., LGBTQ, women, children, disabled, blacks, and others of color?

When an abortion occurs, there are always two primary humans involved, the mother and the child.  Medical research and DNA show that within a second of conception the zygote (single cell) starts functioning as a human organism whose identity is immutable.  Therefore, abortion in my mind is always a choice between two human lives, and not just the choice pertaining to the mother’s life.  Also, in every abortion, the guaranteed outcome for the unborn human child is always death.  However, the outcome for the mother if an abortion is not performed ranges from inconvenience; to arduous burden on the mother’s psychological and/or socioeconomic development; or in a less than 1% chance, physical death for the mother.

Because of my religious belief, a child is not just a “piece” of the mother’s body, rather another human being nestled and nurtured by God’s design in the womb of the mother from within 1 second of conception, through birth, and ultimately to death.  What an extremely important responsibility God has given only to women.  If I believed that the unborn child were just a “piece” of the woman’s body, I would agree abortion is solely the choice of the mother.  But, I and a majority of others in the USA don’t believe that way.

Obviously, this is a topic for a deep, civil, loving, tolerant, listening discussion in a future forum, since it is one that has deeply held religious beliefs, competing scientific and religious facts, and logical and compassionate arguments on both sides.

• “contraception and STD testing account for 77%”

Based on the 2014-2015 Annual Report at the Planned Parenthood website, this is a truthful statistic.  Some Christian churches and clergy/leadership do not believe in contraception, but as a Christian of the Baptist tradition, I personally do not have a religious problem with either of these services.  In fact, I am very pleased with all organizations, Planned Parenthood and State Health Departments, that provide these two health services to women for whom it is a burden to pay for such services.

• “Planned Parenthood is already banned from using federal funding for abortions”

While this statement is true on face value, it is very misleading.

I agree the fee for the abortion procedure itself is probably not being paid by Federal tax dollars.  However, based once again on the Planned Parenthood 2014-2015 Annual Report, the Statement of Income and Expense does not track expenses at a granularity fine enough to show Federal funds spent on all the shared infrastructure systems and general staff involved in the delivery of an abortion procedure, e.g., shared supporting staff salaries, facilities, equipment, equipment maintenance, supplies, and etcetera.

On top of that, related services to an abortion procedure such as pre-op blood tests, ultrasounds, ECGs and other general services are classified and counted/paid separately from the abortion procedure/staff itself.  Of course, that grossly skews the accounting for the general services provided even though they were specifically provided for an abortion.

In my opinion, the omission of these line items is not just an innocent oversight.  It is intentional to hide the actual number of federal dollars being spent to help provide the support infrastructure/general staff necessary to deliver abortion procedures.

I don’t want any of my tax dollars spent on Planned Parenthood, since there is no tracking that proves to me that my dollars aren’t being used to help provide a support infrastructure, general services, and general staff for abortion procedures.

It is likely that 50% of taxpayers disagree with me and those like-minded with me.  They would want their tax dollars to support Planned Parenthood including abortion procedures.

Today, the Planned Parenthood annual budget is around $1.5B, and $1B of that is provided by fees for service (for those who can afford to pay) and direct private donors.  This leaves a third of the non-profit’s budget being provided by the US Federal government with our (public) tax dollars.

My preference is that the US government stay totally out of the funding business for any organization that provides abortion services regardless of other good services for women being provided.  For 45+ years, the US Supreme Court via Roe v Wade has restricted the US government from making the choice (by law) for a woman when it comes to abortion.  So, why should the government provide money to sustain an organization that strongly influences a woman’s choice about abortion when the government itself has no say in the matter?

One solution for this conundrum concerning abortion is for Planned Parenthood to totally divest itself of the abortion services business, i.e., spin it off as another 501(c)(3) that doesn’t receive annual Federal tax dollars.  By their own admission, it is only 3% of their total business.  This would go a long way toward making the remaining services acceptable to a significant majority of US tax payers.  It would also eliminate suspicions of fungible Federal tax dollars being used to provide indirect support for abortion services.

It is unlikely that Planned Parenthood would ever give this option serious consideration, since they consider abortion to be their premier service to women.  However, I still think it is a viable plan.

Another possible solution is for the IRS to provide a check box on our tax returns to determine each taxpayer’s choice concerning abortion services.  The current Federally budgeted $500M for Planned Parenthood could then be apportioned using a reasoned algorithm between Planned Parenthood and State Health Departments based on tax returns.  Effectively, this option would continue to provide the same amount of financial support for women’s health in the US.

Of course, Planned Parenthood would then have to recover the shortfall from a reduced Federal budget line item by appealing to private donors who agree with their abortion services ideology.

In my mind, as a non-government organization (NGO) and non-profit, that is where they should be getting all their financial support anyway.

Conclusion

“…GOP wants to prevent abortions by cutting off access to birth control pills?”

Sadly, this is the classic punchline for most political memes these days — attack/ridicule the intelligence and deeply held religious beliefs of people who disagree with you using inane statements such as this one.  And, of course, always disguise the animus in humor.

Unfortunately, these type memes come from both sides of the political spectrum.    While I am politically an Independent, not a Republican or a Democrat, I do respect ideas from both conservative and liberal thought leaders inasmuch they are offered in the spirit of seeking common ground solutions for the greater good.

To that end, my observation is the GOP (and Democrat party) in general is composed of people who are intelligent, passionate, caring, loving, and tolerant people.

In my opinion, this is defense enough against the innuendo of this meme.