There were 227,375 abortions performed at Planned Parenthood sites in 2002, 14,000+ more than 2001, when PPFA set its previous record. This means that over 17% of all abortions in America, over 1 of every 6, is done at Planned Parenthood.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI – Planned Parenthoods special affiliate for reproductive health research] abortions have declined in the U.S. every year but one from 1990 to 2000 (the last year for which national statistics were available), with an overall decrease of 18% in those 11 years. By contrast, since 1990 PPFA abortions have increased in 11 of the 13 years Planned Parenthood has reported statistics, with an overall increase of 76% during the period.
Statistics for 2002 show that Planned Parenthood is far more committed to abortion than to parenthood. Planned Parenthood did see 15,860 prenatal clients in 2002, but against the more than two hundred thousand abortions, this is relatively very small. Combining the two figures one sees that only 6.5% of those clients receiving pregnancy-related services received prenatal care the rest received abortions.
Planned Parenthood lists no adoption services being performed in house, but says it did 1,963 adoption referrals in 2002. To put things in perspective, that translates into nearly 116 abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics for every adoption referral.
Your Tax Dollars at Work: Where the money comes from
Despite what PPFA President Gloria Feldt called a tough year, Planned Parenthood reported $766.6 million in total revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30,2003.
Of that total, $288.2 million (about 36%) came from Clinic Income. The proportion that came from abortion is hard to determine, because Planned Parenthood sites advertise and perform different types of abortions at different stages, with later abortions and certain kinds of procedures costing more. But if one took the figure of $372 given elsewhere by AGI as the going rate for a standard, first-trimester suction curettage abortion and assumed all abortions reported at PPFA clinics were that type, Planned Parenthood would have taken in at least $84.5 million of that for abortion alone. Undoubtedly, the real figure is higher.
At $254.4 million, tax-payer dollars in the form of Government Grants and Contracts accounted for about a third of Planned Parenthoods income. While federal money comes with restrictions prohibiting its use for abortion (some state money does not), every dollar Planned Parenthood receives from the government frees up other funds for the performance and promotion of abortion. Planned Parenthood fights to keep that revenue stream flowing.
The annual report notes that PPFA helped achieve a funding increase of $10 million, for a total of $273 million, for Title X, Americas family planning program, despite anti-family planning efforts to cripple the program.
Private Contributions and Bequests of $228.1 million accounted for the remaining 30% of PPFA income in fiscal 2003. Big name donors such as the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the Open Society Institute (founded by international financier George Soros) kicked in funding for special PPFA initiatives such as the Mifepristone Affiliate Readiness Project which trained Planned Parenthood employees and helped cover advertising for chemical abortions using RU486.
That project, Planned Parenthood proudly details, involved some 48,500 [RU 486] abortions at 172 of its clinics and at well over half (74) of its 125 affiliates.
On the expense side of the ledger, $463.7 million went toward Medical Services, which would theoretically include such things as pregnancy tests, abortionist salaries, etc. The pages the annual report cites in reference to the $39.5 million in expenses devoted to Public Policy refer to efforts at preserving Title X (see above), protecting Roe v. Wade, and projects such as the Power the Promise Campaign and the Pro-Choice Organizing Project which were to preserve and expand access to all reproductive services and to urge the pro-choice majority of Americans to voice their views.
Services to the Field of Family Planning at $23.5 million, and Services to Affiliates, at $18 million appear to include Planned Parenthoods considerable media spending on publications, advertising, and the internet. The plannedparenthood.org website, logging more than 720,000 visits a month, promotes and defends Planned Parenthood services like abortion, containing fact sheets and media releases on abortion, as well as full contact information for local Planned Parenthood affiliates.
Action alerts from the Planned Parenthood Action Network and Legislative Action Center provide activists an easy way to contact members of Congress via e-mail, fax, or postal mail. Last years action network included some 365,000 activists.
According to the PPFA annual report, Planned Parenthoods teen website gives the approximately 400,000 teens who visit the site each month honest and medically accurate sexuality and relationship information in their own language so they can make healthy, responsible choices. This includes not only abortion information ignoring or downplaying abortions physical and psychological risks, but instructions on how teens in states with parental notification laws may be able to avoid telling their parents if theyre having an abortion. It also encourages sexual activity, explains techniques, and other high-risk behaviors. [NRLC Todays News &Views, 5Febr04; N Valko RN, 5Feb04]