Planned Parenthood Slaps Some Sense Into Trump With Most No-Duh Statement

President Donald Trump is trying to defund Planned Parenthood in his attempt to get a health care bill passed.

Trump is forcing a vote on the House Republicans' health care plan, the American Health Care Act. On Thursday night, Trump said the House Republicans had to get this bill through or he would leave the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, in place.

"They will sacrifice the health of every woman in this country to pass this disastrous bill," Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, said in a strongly-worded statement on Friday morning.

This plan is super unpopular, even among Republicans, which is why our president is throwing a tantrum trying to make it happen. A risky vote in the House is happening on Friday afternoon. Then it would have to go through the Senate, which is even more uncertain.

One part of the Republican plan, led by Paul Ryan, is to defund Planned Parenthood for a year.

As it turns out, people aren't very happy about that as it takes away people's access to essential care like cancer screenings and affordable contraceptives.

Thousands of more births would take place in that year without Planned Parenthood, the Congressional Budget Office estimated, due to lack of access. That would be very costly to all Americans.

A wrench in Paul Ryan's plan is actually a group of Republicans in the House.

The House Freedom Caucus said they will not vote for this plan because it's not conservative enough.

The Freedom Caucus wanted a plan that removed Obamacare's requirement that insurance plans cover "essential health benefits" that cares for things like mental health, maternity and substance abuse rehabilitation.

Oh, by the way, in case you're wondering who these people are who want to take away care for new mothers, this is them:

The caucus is also not a fan of the requirements that people up to 26 can stay on parents' insurance and that people with pre-existing conditions can't be denied coverage.

Because the less conservative Republicans refuse to bend to the Freedom Caucus's demands, for now, they say they won't vote for the plan.

So on Friday morning, Trump tweeted this:

He brought Planned Parenthood into the Freedom Caucus' rejection of the AHCA, essentially saying that by rejecting Ryan's plan, they're supporting Planned Parenthood.

Now, there are a few things to point out here.

First of all, if defunding Planned Parenthood would lead to thousands of more births, common sense says it will also lead to an increase in demand for abortion and possible increase in the abortion rate, which is at a historic low since the introduction of Obamacare.

Second of all, abortion makes up 3 percent of what Planned Parenthood does. Third of all, federal funding does not go to abortions. Fourth of all, Planned Parenthood does not provide a majority of abortions in the United States.

Planned Parenthood shot back at Trump's tweet with a statement on Friday morning.

"This was already the worst bill for women's health in our lifetime -- and it's getting worse every day. Yesterday, Paul Ryan, Donald Trump and Republican leadership eliminated maternity care from health coverage," Laguens said in the statement.

She said the argument in Trump's tweet uses women as "part of a dangerous political game."

Then, Laguens gets to the real "irony" of Trump's reasoning:

You cannot call yourself pro-family and slash maternity care. You cannot claim you want to invest in women's health and block access to Planned Parenthood and essential women's health care. Negotiating away access to cancer screenings, birth control and maternity care is not 'pro-life,' it's cruel.

And finally, we get the mic drop:

While the President tweets and plays politics, we're busy fighting to save health care that one in five women rely on.

Boom.

The House is expected to vote on Friday afternoon.

Citations: Obamacare Repeal Rolls Toward a Vote: 'It's Time to Act' (New York Times), Only 17% of Americans support 'Trumpcare' in new poll (Business Insider), U.S. Abortion Rate Falls To Lowest Level Since Roe v. Wade (NPR)