A Balance Sheet of Death: Planned Parenthood’s Abortion Business Profits Continue to Soar as Prenatal and Miscarriage “Services” Precipitously Dwindle

Planned Parenthood just released their 2016–2017 annual report. The findings are clear: over 320,000 abortions committed in the last year; over half a billion in government funding; nearly $100 million in profit (a staggering 27% increase over the prior year). Big Abortion is big business.

Last year, Planned Parenthood performed 321,384 abortions. That is 321,384 children who never saw the light of day; 321,384 opportunities lost; 321,384 brilliant young minds who never had a chance. To put those numbers into perspective, last year, if Planned Parenthood ran its disassembly line of death 24-hours a day, Planned Parenthood slaughtered 37 babes every hour. That is one child lost every 98 seconds. To put it another way, for every 1 child Planned Parenthood refers for adoption, they abort 83 others.

To put this horrific data yet another way, in the most recent Center for Disease Control National Vital Statistics Report, 23,215 babies died in the United States before their first birthday. While tragic, this statistic puts Planned Parenthood’s slaughter of 321,384 babies in staggering contrast. At Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide nearly 14 times that number of babies were aborted last year alone.

This industry of death is funded by more than half a billion in government funding. Last year, Planned Parenthood received another $543.7 million in government grants and reimbursements – your tax dollars. Planned Parenthood claims that money is used to provide women’s health services, not abortions. Yet, this year they provided over 100,000 fewer contraceptive services, over 5,000 fewer HPV treatments and vaccinations, 21% fewer prenatal services, and 57% fewer miscarriage care services than last year.

If that is what half a billion of our tax dollars buys women’s health, that is a poor accounting for women’s health. And in the end, all money if fungible. Every dime given to Planned Parenthood for its shrinking women’s health programs is another that it can spend on abortion or pad their bottom line. Our taxpayer dollars are better spent caring for women and their families, not tearing them apart before they even begin.

Moreover, despite Planned Parenthood’s claims, they are not hurting for funds. Last year, Planned Parenthood’s profits soared to nearly $100 million. That is a more than 27% increase over the previous year. In 2016, Planned Parenthood reported an increase in profits of nearly 32%. In two years, Planned Parenthood has nearly doubled its profits. They are now worth almost $2 billion.

Perhaps more puzzling than their staggering bottom line is the fact that while their profits have soared, their services have more or less stayed the same. In 2016, Planned Parenthood reported roughly 9.5 million services were provided to approximately 2.4 million patients. In 2017, they reported nearly the same number of services to 2.5 million patients. In fact, from 2016 to 2017, Planned Parenthood provided less than 0.5% more services while increasing their revenue more than 27%.

And as we’ve been arguing for years, Planned Parenthood deceptively reports the number of “services” it provides. Planned Parenthood recently changed the way it reports these numbers, and our analysis of the change provides an eye-opening look into its deception:

Planned Parenthood’s 2009 Fact Sheet listed 7,021 prenatal clients – a shockingly small number compared to the 332,278 abortions reported for the same period of time. However, in the [next] annual report, this 2009 figure is reclassified as “prenatal services,” of which Planned Parenthood reports 40,489 in 2009. So Planned Parenthood served 7,021 prenatal clients and provided an average of roughly six “prenatal services” to each. It’s a pretty clever way to make this number look more impressive. And it makes the 2010 number of 31,098 “prenatal services” look even weaker. In fact, as others have pointed out, if each prenatal client were given the same number of services as was reported in 2009, Planned Parenthood only provided services to a little more than 5,000 women in 2010.

This is how Planned Parenthood is able to spin its infamous 3% lie to downplay its abortions.

Now it appears that Planned Parenthood has discovered how to wring more money out of their patients and the American taxpayer for the same services year after year. So much for providing a public service in the name of women’s health.

At the ACLJ, we have continually exposed Planned Parenthood’s lies and deceptions. Their own reports are enough to condemn them and their work. They take over half a billion dollars from taxpayers and increase their bottom line year-after-year. They trumpet their dwindling women’s health services as if it justifies their horrific abortion practices. They kill innocent children by the hundreds of thousands every year.

Enough is enough. With your help, we can continue to expose Planned Parenthood and fight to defend Christian Crisis Pregnancy Centers as a pro-life alternative to Planned Parenthood that truly cares about women’s health.