Kudos to Ron Stauble for his Oct. 22 letter (“Whistleblower testifies about Planned Parenthood”) concerning Sue Thayer, center manager for Planned Parenthood for 17 years, who gave testimony highlighting a number of unethical and illegal workings of the organization over a period of several years.

I was outraged, as any of us should be, by the organization’s manipulation of the Medicaid system. A lawsuit filed by Thayer against Planned Parenthood in Iowa alleges that it filed false claims for $28 million to Iowa’s Medicaid program. Stauble lists several other manipulations Planned Parenthood engaged in to boost its profits at the taxpayers’ and patients’ expense. And this is just one state, two offices.

Planned Parenthood insists it needs government funding, while its president, Cecile Richards, earns $400,000 per year? Its flight expenses average $14,000 per day? And our government gave it $528.4 million this past year alone.

What bothers me the most, however, are the services themselves. Planned Parenthood does not do mammograms, it only refers patients to the nearest hospital or doctor’s office. It provides little prenatal care, by its own admission.

And let’s not forget the videos, which were found to be authentic. The “planned” part of “parenthood” seems to be mostly referring to “no” parenthood, as abortions are its biggest money-maker. It’s not up to me or anyone else to tell a woman what to do. To me, life begins at conception, a precious gift. With all the stories I hear about abortions, especially now in regard to Planned Parenthood, we don’t need to fund them.

Patricia Maynard

Skowhegan