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NRL News
Planned
Parenthood Releases 2006–07 Annual Report Despite efforts to downplay abortion’s role in its lucrative business, Planned Parenthood has become responsible for nearly a quarter of all abortions performed in the United States. And while PPFA advertises itself as a non-profit, the latest annual report once again shows America’s top abortion chain setting records in revenues—over a billion dollars—as well as abortions—289,750. On page 1 of its 2006–07 report, PPFA identifies itself as “the nation’s leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate.” It characterizes its behavior as doing “more than any other organization in the United States to prevent unintended pregnancies and protect women’s health and safety.” Yet for 2006, PPFA notes that it performed 289,750 abortions at its clinics, a new record. If national figures for 2006 are similar to those for 2005, Planned Parenthood clinics will end up being responsible for 24% of all abortions in the U.S.—nearly one out of every four. By contrast, Planned Parenthood saw only 11,058 prenatal clients in 2006. This means that PPFA killed more than 26 babies for every one it helped get born. It had even fewer adoption referrals than prenatal clients. Out of the at least 300,000 pregnant women Planned Parenthood saw, only 2,410 were referred out “to other agencies” for adoption. All told, if you were an unborn baby visiting Planned Parenthood with your mother, PPFA service figures indicate your chances of being adopted were only about one in 125. In the some 860 “health centers” managed by PPFA’s 107 affiliates, only 316 clients were treated or counseled for infertility, about one for every three clinics. In light of all these numbers, PPFA’s own statistics make clear, once again, that Planned Parenthood’s plans rarely involve parenthood. Revenues Reach All-Time High Planned Parenthood and its affiliates brought in over $1 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. That’s billion, with a “b” (actual receipts were $1,017,900,000). Its biggest source of revenue was “Health Center Income” at $356.9 million, accounting for 35%. Close behind, responsible for a third (33%) of revenues, was “Government Grants and Contracts.” Planned Parenthood often complains about restrictions and cuts in government funding, but the amount of federal, state, and local tax money going to Planned Parenthood has increased every year at least as far back as 2001. “Private Contributions and Bequests” brought in $258.7 million, 26% of revenues. “Other Operating Revenues” accounted for the remaining 6%. Planned Parenthood says abortion accounts for only 3% of its services, but it produces more than a third of PPFA’s clinic income. With industry rates for a standard first-trimester suction abortion at about $413, PPFA’s minimum take for 289,750 abortions is $119.6 million. The figure is certainly much higher, given that PPFA affiliates advertise and perform considerably more expensive chemical and late term surgical abortions. At $119.6 million, however, abortion would count for over a third of Planned Parenthood’s clinic income, much more significant than 3%. As NRL News has pointed out many times before (most recently in June 2007), even this fails to capture how other services and activities may be tied to abortion. If every woman who comes to Planned Parenthood thinking she might be pregnant obtains a pregnancy test, STD testing, and a packet of pills to take home, abortion ends up being responsible for a great deal more than 3% of services. Planned Parenthood’s activities promoting and performing abortion are featured throughout the 2006–07 annual report. One of the “research projects” PPFA undertook “to continuously improve health care and services” was one on “medication abortion service delivery.” Details are lacking, but it is widely known that Planned Parenthood has taken the lead in promoting and utilizing RU486. (It did modify its procedures though, in 2006, when two patients who had received their abortifacients at its clinics died. See NRL News, April 2006.) Web Site Peddling Death at Home and Abroad There were over 10,000 searches a day on Planned Parenthood’s web site for help in locating its “health centers.” PPFA web sites not only enable young women to contact clinics to make appointments, but tell teens how they can legally bypass state laws mandating parental involvement in their abortion decisions. Those web sites are also set up to help Planned Parenthood recruit and direct political activists. Planned Parenthood notes from the beginning that it is not simply a “reproductive health care provider” but a “fierce and compassionate advocate for reproductive health and rights.” Advocacy mentioned in the report includes challenging the South Dakota abortion ban and a parental involvement ballot initiative in California. The report notes that PPFA fought several legislative efforts to limit abortion. “Mobilizing our grassroots base and promoting prevention messages that highlight our opponent’s hypocrisy,” says PPFA proudly, “we helped halt 20 abortion bans in 12 states.” Planned Parenthood’s deputy director of litigation and law argued unsuccessfully against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in the Supreme Court, but the report notes that PPFA “launched an aggressive advocacy and media campaign, outlining why this ruling is out of touch with the basic values of American voters.” Not satisfied with the death sown on American soil, Planned Parenthood also helps promote and perform abortions around the world. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supported by Planned Parenthood “provided safe abortion and post-abortion care to more than 20,000 women” in countries across the globe. Complaining about the “global gag rule” that denies federal funding to groups that perform or promote abortion overseas, Planned Parenthood talks in the report about how it will help an organization provide abortions in Ethiopia and how it worked with activists in Kenya to improve the “legal, social, and political environment for the provision of safe abortion services.” The report further notes Planned Parenthood’s efforts to address an enormous need for “reproductive health services for young people” in India, naturally involving “safe abortion services.” In Latin America, Planned Parenthood supports “Peruvian women’s rights organizations in their campaign to increase the number of public facilities offering safe, legal abortion services.” Going against the Flow Planned Parenthood’s record number of abortions and record revenues come at a time when the abortion numbers and rates in the country as a whole have dropped to levels not seen since the mid 1970s, just after abortion became legal in the United States. This prominence did not happen by accident. Through aggressive marketing, a carefully crafted media image, high-pressure political advocacy, and a calculating business model, Planned Parenthood has been positioning itself to corner the American abortion market. There is little doubt that PPFA has done so. Its efforts to downplay the significance of abortion to its mission, even while building new mega-clinics and seeking out more government funding, indicate that PPFA recognizes that the American public may be beginning to catch on to what is really going on behind clinic walls. (See NRL News, March 2008.) Eventually, no amount of marketing can disguise that. When America finally does see through all the pretty pictures and propaganda and sees abortion for what it really is—the destruction of innocent human life, the crushing of a mother’s soul—business at Planned Parenthood won’t be so good anymore. |