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AOC says she's a 'Planned Parenthood baby', Internet says service does 'more good than the pro-life movement'

As Democratic Rep. bats for planned parenthood, social media users attack conservatives for defunding, with personal stories of how PP helped them

During a House committee hearing, New York Rep Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) launched a strong defense of Planned Parenthood (PP), claiming It saves lives. The hearing was held to examine the challenges faced by Black mothers in America when AOC brought up her defense and even dropped an interesting fact.

"If we want to talk about Planned Parenthood," the congresswoman said, "let’s talk about how many lives Planned Parenthood has saved and how many babies have been born because of the prenatal care provided by Planned Parenthood." She added, "And if you don't believe it, and if you've never met a Planned Parenthood baby, I'm happy to let you know that I am one."

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While it is true that PP offers prenatal care and other vital services for mothers, AOC's defence does not take into account the fact that the service is one of the largest abortion providers in the country. Even by its own admission, PP is more of an abortion provider than a prenatal care provider. The 2019-20 Annual Report says that PP provided 354,871 abortions that year, compared to just 8,626 prenatal services and 2,667 adoption referrals.

PP also provides myriad other services, such as cancer screenings, contraceptive services and STI testing and treatment, all of which are greater in number than the number of abortions performed. Nonetheless, PP is one of the largest abortion providers in the country, if not the largest. Due to the high number of illegal abortions provided, it is hard to state just how big PP's abortion services are. 

Nonetheless, AOC's claims do have some merit to them. When you take cancer screenings and STI treatments into the picture, PP does provide more pro-life services than abortion services. It was a fact, social media was quick to remind conservatives of, as the debate heated up around PP. 

'Wouldn't that mean she wouldn't be here' jokes Twitter

Author and filmmaker Dinesh D'SOuza was the first to shed light on the debate when he shared the clip of AOC's speech to Twitter, saying, "AOC tells the world that she’s a “Planned Parenthood baby." That set off a huge number of memes, trolls and fact-based tweets from the social network.

"So many women for decades benefited from Planned Parenthood healthcare. Falsely demonized. Should talk to mothers & grandmothers from 1960s forward" tweeted one person. Another said, "I received the very best of affordable prenatal care throughout the pregnancy of my first born thanks to Planned Parenthood. Also super brave of this tool to turn off the comments."

One person replied, "No, not at all. In some rural areas Planned Parenthood is the local primary care." Another user tweeted, "Planned Parenthood has done more good than the entire collective who make up the so-called "pro life" movement. If you're against social welfare programs that help impoverished children, you CAN'T also be against reproductive rights!"

Others also saw the funny side of the debate. One user replied to D'Souza's tweet, "If she was a planned parenthood baby, wouldn't that mean that she wouldn't be here, just wondering." Another user joked, "I'm just here to mock all the dimwits who think Planned Parenthood only provides abortion services."

The debate isn't likely to die down anytime soon, as PP becomes the target for both conservatives and liberals. Calling them 'abortion clinics' is perhaps a step too far, as many personal stories on Twitter show. And with proponents like AOC, PP is likely to survive for a long time, and could even get a boost in funding as progressives want.