The country's No. 1 abortion provider said its affiliates performed 333,964 of the lethal procedures during 2010-11, the most recent year for which statistics are available. The previous yearly record for Planned Parenthood clinics was 332,278 in 2009.
Planned Parenthood also established a record for funds received from federal, state and local governments. It received $542.4 million in government grants and reimbursements during the latest fiscal year. Those public funds were nearly half of Planned Parenthood's $1.2 billion in total revenue for the year. The organization's revenue outpaced expenses by $87.4 million.
"Planned Parenthood has spent much of the last few years demanding that taxpayers add millions more to their coffers, citing their non-profit status and so-called focus on women's health," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List. "What have we received for our money? While government subsidies to Planned Parenthood have reached an all time high, so too has the number of lives ended by this profit-driven abortion business."
She added in a written statement, "As if these numbers weren't already horrifying, Planned Parenthood has upped the ante even further by mandating that all affiliates provide abortions beginning this year. Americans are sick and tired of underwriting the nation's largest abortion business."
The abortion toll at Planned Parenthood actually is higher than its record-keeping for the year shows.
Its affiliates distributed 1.43 million "emergency contraception" kits, which have abortion-causing properties. "Emergency contraceptives," such as Plan B and Next Choice, work to restrict ovulation in a female, but they also can act after conception, thereby causing an abortion. This secondary mechanism of the drug blocks implantation of a tiny embryo in the uterine wall.
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The organization's affiliates made only 2,300 adoption referrals during the year, which means they performed about 145 abortions for every adoption referral.
Rep. Diane Black, R.-Tenn., introduced legislation Jan. 4 that would bar federal family planning funds from going to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that perform abortions. The bill is the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, H.R. 217. The House of Representatives has supported similar legislation in the past, but the Senate has not.
Planned Parenthood's medical services report covered October 2010 to September 2011. Its financial report was for July 2011 to June 2012.
Compiled by Tom Strode, Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress ) and in your email ( baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).
Copyright (c) 2013 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press www.BPNews.net
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