Earlier this year, Casey Mattox, senior council with the pro-life Alliance Defending Freedom, discovered via a Freedom of Information Act request that no Planned Parenthood facilities have the certification required to conduct an examination or procedure involving mammography.
On Oct. 17, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, Deborah Nucatola, clarified that Planned Parenthood provides referrals for mammograms.
“Women rely on Planned Parenthood for referrals for and financial help with mammograms and specialized diagnostic follow-up tests (like ultrasounds and biopsies) when indicated by age, history and/or clinical breast exam,” she wrote in a statement. “Like the vast majority of primary care physicians and ob-gyns, Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses refer patients to other facilities for mammograms based on breast exams, age, or family history. For many women, Planned Parenthood is the only health care provider they will see all year, and thus the only way they will get a referral for a mammogram.”
During the second presidential debate at Long Island’s Hofstra University, the president similarly connected Planned Parenthood with mammograms. Pro-lifers then were outraged, and over 2,000 reportedly called Planned Parenthood offices pretending to want to schedule a mammogram.
The Obama campaign did not responded to request for comment.
