Re: "Your tax dollars at work" [Letter, Village News, 9/3/15]

If Assembly-person Waldron had spent a few minutes checking, she would've found that her "firestorm of controversy" had already fizzled back in July. The so-called firestorm was based on a videotape purporting to show that Planned Parenthood was trafficking in fetal tissue.

It was quickly determined that the videotape was edited to produce this false result. FactCheck.org's complete debunking of the tape can be found here: Google "Unspinning the Planned Parenthood Video". What was actually discussed on the unedited tape was the cost to preserve and ship donated fetal tissue to researchers who request it. Note that this is a perfectly legal and valued service. In the unedited videotape, the Planned Parenthood representative made it clear: the charges are only enough ($30-$200) to cover Planned Parenthood's out-of-pocket expense: no profit is involved.

To stoke the fires of outrage, Waldron speaks of California taxpayers providing "the staggering sum of $227.8 million to Planned Parenthood." How staggering is that, when Planned Parenthood serves a million clients? That's roughly $228 per client for the entire year.

Let me put that into perspective. I recently had a small cancerous lesion excised. This was a single, out-patient procedure. My doctor billed Medicare $340! Medical services don't come cheap. It's only because of other grants that Planned Parenthood can continue its service.

I know it galls some people that Planned Parenthood also provides abortion services. But keep in mind that abortion is legal, women pay taxes, and women have the right to choose.

John H. Terrell