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Getting to Know Planned Parenthood

If you’re visiting this page, you probably received a flyer entitled, “Getting to Know Planned Parenthood.” This flyer was published by the Pro-Life Action League to educate the public about Planned Parenthood, especially their major role in abortion.

Below, you will find citations for the claims made about Planned Parenthood in each section of the flyer, followed by suggestions for taking action.

You can order copies of “Getting to Know Planned Parenthood” at the Pro-Life Action Store.

Planned Parenthood and Health Care

  • Planned Parenthood serves less than 1% of the U.S. population each year. According to their 2021-2022 Annual Report, Planned Parenthood served 2.13 million clients, which is only 0.65% of the total U.S. population of 333.3 million reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • Prenatal care amounts to less than 0.1% of total Planned Parenthood annual services. Their 2021-2022 Annual Report lists 6,244 prenatal services out of 9,117,154 total services, or 0.068%.
  • Planned Parenthood provides less than 1% of annual manual breast exams. The total in their 2021-2022 Annual Report of 193,045 is 0.97% of the 20 million manual breast exams estimated to be performed each year by the Mammacare Foundation, a breast health advocacy group.
  • Planned Parenthood provides less than 1% of annual pap tests. The total in their 2021-2022 Annual Report of 228,466 amounts to 0.87% of the 26.4 million pap tests performed each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
  • Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. In 2015, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards testified before Congress that the organization does not have any mammogram machines, as reported by the Washington Post.
  • Planned Parenthood diagnoses approximately 1% of new STD cases. Out of 26 million newly acquired STDs estimated each year by the Centers for Disease Control, Planned Parenthood diagnoses approximately 1%. In their 2019-2020 annual report, Planned Parenthood reported that they performed 5,390,537 STD tests (including HIV tests) and diagnosed 308,135 new STD cases. That was the last annual report to include the number of STD diagnoses; for reasons of their own, apparently, Planned Parenthood no longer reports the number of STDs they diagnose. But their 2021-2022 Annual Report shows that they performed 4,380,049 STD tests (including HIV tests), which is more than one million fewer than they performed in 2018-2019. Assuming Planned Parenthood’s ratio of STD tests to new STD diagnoses is still comparable, they diagnosed around 250,000 new STDs last year (less than 1% of the overall national total).
  • Planned Parenthood does not provide treatment for diabetes, back pain, colds and flus, bodily injury, or mental health issues. None of these services is listed in their 2021-2022 Annual Report.
  • Planned Parenthood offers little to no pediatric care, and some centers even instruct parents not to bring children with them. This directive is given to clients when booking appointments online (Screenshot 1, Screenshot 2, Screenshot 3).
  • Four out of five women will never visit a Planned Parenthood facility in their lives. On their website, Planned Parenthood formerly claimed that “One in five American women has chosen Planned Parenthood for health care at least once in her life”; even if that was true at the time, that means four out of five would never visit one of their facilities. And considering that over the past decade, Planned Parenthood’s total number of clients has decreased while the U.S. population has increased, it’s likely that the fraction of American women who have gone to Planned Parenthood at least once is now so small that Planned Parenthood does not want to draw attention to it.

Planned Parenthood and the Law

  • Planned Parenthood has submitted fraudulent Medicaid claims. A 2017 survey of state audits of Planned Parenthood affiliates by the Charlotte Lozier Institute found $8.5 million in overpayments due to unlawful billing practices.
  • Planned Parenthood has deceived government officials and defied state and federal law. They have hidden their identity from municipal officials, illegally disposed of fetal remains, performed illegal late term abortions, violated safety regulations, and more.
  • Planned Parenthood has lied about what services they provide. For example, in a 2011 interview, CEO Cecile Richards claimed they do mammograms, but in 2015 admitted to Congress that they do not. Their claims to provide extensive prenatal care were debunked by a 2017 investigation by the group Live Action.
  • Planned Parenthood has harvested and sold fetal tissue. In 2015, the Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the harvesting and sale of fetal remains, including deceiving clients about the practice.
  • Planned Parenthood has shielded child predators. A report by Alliance Defending Freedom, documented Planned Parenthood’s failure to comply with mandatory reporting laws in a dozen cases in six states, allowing abusers to continue molesting their victims.
  • Planned Parenthood receives over half a billion dollars from taxpayers every year. Their 2021-2022 Annual Report lists $670,400,000 in “Government Health Services Reimbursements & Grants.”

Planned Parenthood and Abortion

  • Planned Parenthood is the nation’s single largest abortion provider. In 2017, Jennifer Thibodeau of the Abortion Care Network told Politifact.com, “There is no other national organization that operate [sic] on the scale they do,” speaking of Planned Parenthood’s role in abortion.
  • Planned Parenthood performs over 370,000 abortions every year. Their 2021-2022 Annual Report specifies that 374,155 abortion procedures were performed.
  • Planned Parenthood controls 40% of the national abortion market. According to the Guttmacher Institute, approximately 930,160 abortions were performed in 2020 (the most recent year they’ve surveyed). Using that as a base figure, Planned Parenthood’s 374,155 abortions comprise 40.2% of the national total.
  • Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers keep going up. In 2001, Planned Parenthood performed 213,026 abortions, while in 2021 they performed 374,155 abortions, which amounts to an increase of 75.6% over the past 20 years (see 2001-2002 and 2021-2022 annual reports).
  • Planned Parenthood aggressively markets abortion to their clients. Former Planned Parenthood staffers have testified that they set quotas for each facility and reward staff who meet them.
  • Abortion accounts for more than half of Planned Parenthood clinic income, over $220 million annually. A survey by Operation Rescue found an average price for abortion in 2022 of $609. Multiplying this average by Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual abortion tally of 374,155 yields a figure of $227,860,395, or 63% of clinic income listed in the same report.
  • One out of six women visiting Planned Parenthood each year will get an abortion there.
    In 2021, Planned Parenthood saw 2.13 million clients, upon whom they performed 374,155 abortions; this comes to one abortion for every 6 clients (a ratio that would be even higher if male clients could be factored out).
  • Planned Parenthood opposes limits on abortion that most Americans support. They oppose measures like parental involvement laws, limits on taxpayer funding of abortion, and even restrictions on late term abortion—which puts them out of step with most Americans.

Take Action against Planned Parenthood

That’s Planned Parenthood. They’re the nation’s largest abortion provider. Their role in health care is minimal. They break the law.

Now what can you do about it? Here are some practical suggestions: