A Peek Behind the Curtain of Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood released its 2022 annual report last week, and it has one heck of an opening line: “This was the year the worst happened.”
I try to understand where pro-choice people are coming from. Many of them genuinely believe that abortion is a necessary evil, that women cannot succeed in male-dominated career fields without it, or that it is merciful to kill embryos who would otherwise grow up to lead difficult lives. But I cannot fathom the mindset that a ruling which returns abortion policy to the voters and their elective representatives is the worst thing that could happen. Really? Planned Parenthood has no imagination.
Sadly, Dobbs had minimal impact on Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers. 374,155 babies died at a Planned Parenthood in its 2021-2022 reporting year, only a 2.4% drop from the previous year. As Dr. Michael New writes in National Review: “This is the second-most abortions that Planned Parenthood has performed in its history and represents approximately 40 percent of the abortions performed in the United States.”
Planned Parenthood’s provision of legitimate non-violent healthcare has been on the decline for years, and last year continued that trend. To again quote Dr. New:
The report also indicates that Planned Parenthood continues to cut back on several health services. Between 2021 and 2022, prenatal services fell by a whopping 29 percent. In addition to this, miscarriage-care fell by 5 percent, adoption referrals fell by 7 percent, STI tests fell by over 2 percent, and pregnancy tests fell by 3.7 percent.
Overall, an examination of previous Planned Parenthood annual reports shows a consistent long-term trend of performing more abortions and providing fewer health services. In fact, in 20 years the number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood affiliates has increased by an astounding 75.6 percent. During the same time period, prenatal services offered by Planned Parenthood affiliates have gone down by more than 60 percent.
I would differ from Dr. New in one respect: the decline in Planned Parenthood’s provision of miscarriage care is a good thing, because the abortion industry had previously signaled its intent to commit illegal abortions and mislabel them as “miscarriage management.” Another bright spot is that PP contraceptive services increased slightly from 2,193,205 to 2,348,275.
Financially, we continue to be seriously outgunned. Planned Parenthood boasts total assets exceeding $2.7 billion. More than a third of its revenue comes courtesy of your tax dollars. It spent $61.6 million on “advocacy” and $38.6 million on “public policy.”
