Planned Parenthood recently released their 2015-2016 annual report. Their own numbers show their increasing focus on abortion is coming at the cost of both health services and U.S. taxpayers. They also show how Planned Parenthood manipulates their own data to create talking points to distract from their abortion mission.
Planned Parenthood’s tax-funding has increased dramatically in the last 10 years, up 82 percent. Abortions have increased 24 percent. Despite receiving much more tax funding, their overall client base declined 23 percent, their contraceptive clients decreased 20 percent, and their breast exams decreased 62 percent.
Planned Parenthood knows most Americans don’t support tax-funded abortions, so they frequently employ their talking point that “only 3 percent of our services are abortion.” The point itself is misleading. Looking at their recent annual report, they reported serving 2.4 million clients and did 328,348 abortions. That’s 14 percent.
Thankfully some media outlets have pointed out the deception. Few have reported that Planned Parenthood doesn’t just conveniently use the “3 percent” statistic; they purposefully manufacture it by massaging the client data in their annual report.
If you look at their annual reports over the years, you’ll see that new categories of services get added to the report out of thin air. These “new” services never get touted as actual new services they offer. Consider their most recent annual report as an example.
Many of their largest services saw cuts. They had 100,000 fewer clients. They provided 72,947 fewer women with contraception. Their manual breast exams dropped by 42,103. Several other services experienced declines.
Did anything increase? They provided 25,553 more STI tests and 22,260 more pap tests. Those small increases don’t make up the difference between their decreasing services and increasing abortions to keep their “3 percent” statistic alive. They are forced to use some clever accounting.
In their latest report we suddenly see Planned Parenthood provided 226,254 well women exams; they already count them as breast exams and pap tests separately. They invented the category of “Other Contraceptive Services,” providing 100,673 services. Also new are “Other STI Prevention and Treatments,” totaling 26,042 services.
When Planned Parenthood adds it all up they get 9,494,977 services and 328,348 abortions, just enough to keep abortion at 3.46 percent of their “services”—how convenient.
Even Planned Parenthood’s clever accounting can’t distract from the reality that they use taxpayer dollars to expand their abortion infrastructure at the cost of patients and health services.