Washington D.C., Jan 22, 2019 / 03:30 am
Planned Parenthood, the largest performer of abortions in the U.S., has released its annual report, and its critics object to the organization's increase in abortions and financial profits even as its number of adoption referrals has fallen.
"The big business of abortion is evident in this report, as Planned Parenthood turned a profit of nearly $250 million, a 150 percent increase, according to its own accounts. What a waste of taxpayer dollars," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said Jan. 21.
"While Planned Parenthood pushes talking points about healthcare, the fact remains that Planned Parenthood is the nation's number one abortion vendor, profiting by violently ending life," Hawkins charged. "But pregnancy is not a disease cured by abortion. Women deserve real, life-affirming care, and taxpayers deserve a return on their investment that helps women and their children, born and preborn."
The Planned Parenthood annual report, covering the 2017-2018 fiscal year, was published over the weekend of Jan. 19-20.
The number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood rose to 332,757, an increase of over three percent. Adoption referrals dropped by over 25 percent to 2,831. The abortion provider makes one adoption referral for every 117 abortions.
Hawkins backed the idea of defunding Planned Parenthood "to invest in life-saving care."
Millennials and young adults prefer that tax money go to federally qualified health centers instead of Planned Parenthood, Hawkins said. She cited a Students for Life poll of 18- to 34-year-olds, conducted in January, whose respondents showed a 3-to-1 preference against tax dollars for Planned Parenthood.
Students for Life of America trains and organizes students for campus outreach to young mothers and to fellow students, with the goal of ending abortion. Since 2006 it has helped establish or build over 1,200 pro-life student chapters and has trained over 55,000 students.
While federal funds for abortion are limited, the abortion provider Planned Parenthood receives over $500 million in federal funding for programs involving contraception provision and other services.
It is also in the public eye for possible involvement in illegal sale of fetal tissue from aborted babies' remains, after a series of videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress alleged that Planned Parenthood was involved in the sale of aborted fetal parts for profit.
The Department of Justice is currently investigating Planned Parenthood due to these videos. Congress has launched several investigations.
In 2018 Dr. Leana Wen became the new president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
"Planned Parenthood services - from birth control to cancer screenings to abortion - are standard medical care," Wen said in the report. "Reproductive health care is health care. Women's health care is health care. And health care is a fundamental human right."
The report claims 12 million supporters and claims its contraceptive services averted about 400,000 pregnancies.
