The number of lives ended in abortion by Planned Parenthood is staggering. But even one would be too many.
Planned Parenthood quietly released its most recent annual report last week for the fiscal year 2019–2020. The document highlighted the hurdles the nation’s largest abortion provider has faced, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Trump administration. And yet, business is booming. Planned Parenthood counted 354,871 abortions for the year 2018–2019 in this report – the highest number ever recorded, according to data tracked by pro-life groups.
The aborted unborn are numbers to Planned Parenthood. They should be names.
Combining abortion numbers from years past published by pro-life group Live Action, pro-life leader Jill Stanek, and Planned Parenthood itself, the abortion giant has performed more than 8.6 million estimated abortions since 1970.
To put that in context, imagine a decimated New York City. Or countries with populations comparable to that of Switzerland or Israel destroyed.
Planned Parenthood affiliates saw a total of 2.4 million patients – 321,001 of whom were male – from 2018–2019, according to the report. Assuming that no patient had more than one abortion during that time period, roughly 17 percent of the female patients (~2,078,999) were there for an abortion. And yet, the report noted, “abortion services” accounted for just “3%” of “affiliate medical services.”
For years, the media have repeated the claim that abortions performed by Planned Parenthood consist of only 3 percent of the group’s total “services,” including NBC News and CNN. Only the rare media outlet, such as the Washington Post, has debunked the low 3 percent, along with pro-life groups.
In addition to the number of abortions rising to 354,871, Planned Parenthood affiliates also received more in taxpayer funding, or “Government Health Services Reimbursements & Grants.” The report boasted $618.1 million.
In contrast, according to its 2018—2019 annual report, Planned Parenthood provided 345,672 abortions while receiving $616.8 million in taxpayer funding.
But not all numbers rose. Prenatal services decreased from 9,798 in the previous report to 8,626 in this current report. Likewise, adoption referrals dropped dramatically from 4,279 to 2,667.
These numbers reveal Planned Parenthood’s priorities.
And, this year, Planned Parenthood hoped for even more growth – in certain areas – with the new Biden administration.
“Now, champions for sexual and reproductive health are in the White House,” the report’s introduction read. “We’re entering a new era where we can not only undo the damage of the last four years, but move policy, and collective imagination, forward.”
They’re already trying to move forward with abortion. In a Washington Post interview published in December, Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson called Planned Parenthood a “proud abortion provider” and went so far as to say that downplaying the number of its abortions actually “marginalizes” and “stigmatizes” abortion.
“Like: It’s really not a big deal that Planned Parenthood does this,” she insisted.
In 2019, McGill Johnson began leading Planned Parenthood after her predecessor, Leana Wen, claimed she was fired for not prioritizing abortion enough.
Planned Parenthood has demonstrated before how, even if it claims abortion is 3 percent, it dictates 100 percent of what it does. Planned Parenthood refused to give up abortion in exchange for federal funding after an offer by the Trump administration. Former workers, like Abby Johnson, have stressed that Planned Parenthood has an “abortion quota.”
Among other efforts to advance abortion, Planned Parenthood boasted about launching an “Abortion Service Locator” in its new report. The locator “provides people seeking an abortion with personalized information about their options.”
Other “highlights” from the report included the creation of a short film “showcasing four abortion storytellers” and a #BansOffMyBody campaign to “fight back against extreme, unnecessary state and federal bans and other restrictions on abortion.”
The introduction emphasized that Planned Parenthood still lives by its motto: “Care, no matter what.”
“At Planned Parenthood, especially this year, we choose hope,” the report read, “hope for a future where all our bodies are our own. Hope for a world where every person is seen, loved, and celebrated.”
Planned Parenthood is right – but not in the way that it intends. To it, the unborn child’s body is not his or her own. To it, the unborn baby girl or boy is not a human person of inherent dignity and worth.
Until Planned Parenthood sees, loves, and celebrates the unborn and their humanity, it can never claim to stand for the most vulnerable – the little guy.