A Planned Parenthood report showing an increase in abortions and
decrease in other health services is leading to questions over the
federal funding that the organization receives.
“While government subsidies to Planned Parenthood have reached an all
time high,” Marjoirie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony
List said in a Jan. 7 statement, “so too has the number of lives ended
by this profit-driven abortion business.”
“Destroying nearly one million children in three years is not health
care and does not reflect a concern for vulnerable women and girls,” she
added. “As Planned Parenthood’s funding goes up, abortions increase and
real health services for women go down.”
The largest provider of abortions in the U.S., Planned Parenthood faced
staunch opposition in 2012, with several states working to limit its
funding and numerous lawsuits launched across the country on charges of
fraud, extortion and failure to report malpractice.
The organization recently released its 2011-2012 annual report, which
showed a rise in the number of abortions performed for the first time in
two decades, as well as a record amount of government funding.
The report indicated that Planned Parenthood performed a record-high 333,964 abortions during 2011.
An analysis by the Susan B. Anthony List, which works to support
pro-life lawmakers, asserts that, based on this report, up to 92 percent
of Planned Parenthood’s pregnant clients received abortions.
In contrast, the analysis observed, prenatal care patients accounted
for only seven percent, and adoption referrals were less than one
percent.
“For every adoption referral, Planned Parenthood performed 145 abortions,” it said.
This rise in abortions was coupled with a continued decrease in
non-abortive services. Since 2009, the total number of contraceptive
services has dropped by 12 percent, and cancer screening and prevention
services have dropped by 29 percent.
This dip in “preventative services” was not for lack of funding, as the
organization reported a record $542 million in government grants,
contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements, totaling 45.2 percent of the
group’s annual revenue.
“Planned Parenthood has spent much of the last few years demanding that
taxpayers add millions more to their coffers, citing their non-profit
status and so-called focus on women’s health,” stated Dannenfelser.
“What have we received for our money?”
Furthermore, observed Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans
United for Life, Planned Parenthood is now “requiring every affiliate to
operate at least one clinic that performs abortions.”
“Planned Parenthood’s story in 2013 reveals an abortion-centered
business model,” she said. “The nation’s largest abortion provider
continues to make ever-more money from the suffering of women and girls
as the leader of Big Abortion.”
This news, combined with the ongoing controversies surrounding the
organization, has led to legislative pushes to end federal funding of
the abortion provider.
In a Jan. 8 press release, Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) asserted that
“Planned Parenthood’s blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars to fund its big
abortion business is an attack on life and women’s health.”
On Jan. 4, Black helped to re-introduce legislation to prohibit
abortion providers from receiving federal funds. As a nurse for more
than 40 years, she said that she is fully dedicated to protecting life
and access to women’s health services.
“It is long past time for Congress to respect the will of the American
people and stop taxpayer funded abortions – a heinous abuse of the law
and destruction of innocent life,” she emphasized.