Can a man who thinks he's a woman get a mammogram at Planned Parenthood?
See if you can spot the odd part of this story: Jennifer Blair, a 62-year-old man, now identifying as a woman, walks into a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic and asks for a mammogram. Planned Parenthood denies the mammogram because Blair is "transsexual."
Yes, that's right. What's odd about this story is that someone went to Planned Parenthood for a mammogram. Planned Parenthood doesn't offer mammograms.
It's a myth that simply will not die. Drinking Coke and eating Pop Rocks will not make you explode. Floor germs can get on your dropped cookie in under five seconds. Elvis is, in fact, dead. And you can't get a mammogram at Planned Parenthood.
If you're still nervous about Pop Rocks and Coke because you know someone whose sister knew a guy, I can't help you. But I can prove to you that Planned Parenthood isn't performing mammograms: Live Action has demonstrated that you can't get a mammogram at Planned Parenthood, an excellent First Things piece explains why Planned Parenthood isn't trying to perform mammograms (hint: it's not profitable, unlike abortion), and Planned Parenthood has even admitted it doesn't perform mammograms.
If these things aren't enough, consider this: it is illegal for Planned Parenthood to perform a mammogram.
Only facilities licensed under the Mammogram Quality Standards Act can perform mammograms. There are 115 such places to get a licensed mammogram in Colorado. None of them is a Planned Parenthood facility. If someone tells you that Planned Parenthood is performing mammograms, that person, whether he or she knows it or not, is accusing Planned Parenthood of violating federal law.
Blair is obviously troubled. Reading Blair's story should break anyone's heart on a number of levels. But on top of all of the other pain in this person's life, the last thing Blair needed was to be given the Planned Parenthood run-around in seeking a mammogram.
As the complaint recounts, Blair initially went to Planned Parenthood seeking a mammogram. Blair says that the Colorado program would not pay for the mammogram because he is a "transsexual." Colorado has not yet responded, but regardless of whether Colorado was to pay for a mammogram or not, it would not have occurred at Planned Parenthood.
Later in the complaint, Blair notes that he later sought a referral from Planned Parenthood to a mammogram provider. That was necessary because Planned Parenthood does not perform mammograms. Some Planned Parenthood clinics may provide referrals to mammogram providers, but they do not and cannot perform them themselves.
So how did Blair end up at a Planned Parenthood clinic believing he could get a mammogram there? Maybe it is the result of the misleading rhetoric of Planned Parenthood, its defenders, and even the president of the United States, all of whom seem to want to lead Americans to believe that Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion seller, performs mammograms.
In light of that, perhaps Blair can be forgiven for believing Planned Parenthood offers mammograms. But the media reporting on this story might do well to get the facts straight so that others aren't confused as well.
Casey Mattox is senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom at its Center for Life in Washington, D.C.