Why PP Series: #4: PP’s focus is abortion, not healthcare

According to Planned Parenthood’s 2006-2007 Annual Report, only 3% of their services are abortion. But let’s look at the numbers. Each year PP sees 3,051,144 “unduplicated clients;” this number divided by the number of abortions (264,943) means 8.6% of their clients have an abortion. Why do you suppose that PP plays with the numbers to make it look like abortion is a smaller part of their business than it is? (It’s a rhetorical question.) The Annual Report also shows that 2,399,671 women and 80,411 men receive their “reversible contraception” from PP. Remembering that 54% of women who become pregnant were using some kind of contraception at the time they became pregnant, how many of these two million women do you think chose to go back to PP because they already knew how to get there? Also important to note is that they report providing 10,112,642 services to 3,051,144 unduplicated clients. This means each client receives an average of 3.3 services during the year. So in the case of an abortion, each woman will have a pregnancy test before the abortion. After the abortion they will proscribe her contraceptives “so it doesn’t happen again.” If they test her for STDs/STIs or HIV or give her a breast exam, that’s another two or three more services they can say they provided. So while PP may claim that only a small part of their business is abortions, the numbers just don’t support this. If PP really was a health care facility like they claim, don’t you think they’d be providing a much larger number of services under the “other women’s health services” category? Why do they only help 268 women with their fertility problems? Why do they only provide prenatal services to 12,548 women per year? Prenatal services make up 0.01% of their services! Abortion is a very profitable business. AGI estimated that in 2001 (the most recent numbers available) that the average first trimester suction curettage abortion cost $372. (Chemical abortions and second trimester abortions cost even more.) Since PP performs approximately 197,000 abortions each year, they make a minimum of $73,000,000 off of abortions each year. While this is not pure profit, that’s still a lot of money! Links For Further Information: Self Titled “Health Care Provider” Is Anything But: Planned Parenthood calls themselves a health care provider and lists their abortion clinics as “health centers” on their website. But STOPP International analyzed PP’s 25 year plan and revealed that PP’s goals focus on things like “ensur[ing] that sexuality is understood as an essential, lifelong aspect of being human and that it is celebrated with respect, openness, and mutuality,” “secur[ing] passage of laws and policies, including state and federal constitutional amendments, that guarantee reproductive freedom for all,” and “control[ing] a successful, diversified media company that creates and distributes the most popular, critically acclaimed health and sexuality programming.” “Healthcare” isn’t the right term, if you ask me. Adoption Numbers Insignificant: Planned Parenthood’s referrals for adoptions are miniscule compared to the number of abortions they perform. In 2002 they referred less than 2,000 women to adoption agencies. For every one adoption referral made, PP aborted 115 babies. The Ryan Report addresses this issue in more depth. “Help” From PP = Free Abortion & Contraception Does anyone remember Planned Parenthood’s offer of “help” after the September 11 attacks? Free abortions to all! As if that is what those women needed. They “helped” women after Hurricane Katrina by giving them one free month of birth control. Note that the offer never includes prenatal care, adoption referrals, or counseling for these traumatized women. PP gives away free contraceptives to increase number of paying customers down the road: “PP spokeswoman Ingrid Husisian admits that the reason for the Plan B free giveaway is to draw regular customers: ‘When people come in for their free emergency contraception, one of the things we’ll encourage is would you like to book an appointment on your way out so you can get on a regular method of birth control.’” And please remember that 54% of women who have abortions were on contraceptives at the time they became pregnant. When those contraceptives fail, you already know how to get to the PP clinic for “help”… Webcam Abortion Providers: In an effort to make abortions more available—regardless of the physical or emotional toll on women—PP of Greater Iowa is now offering doctors visits via webcam! The doctor then proscribes the RU-486 abortion pill and sends the woman home alone! This violates numerous FDA protocols and is much more dangerous and emotionally traumatic for the woman. But this way PP makes sure that they get the money instead of another abortion provider.