The American Spectator

Special Report

How much have you spent this year on the abortion-oriented services of Planned Parenthood? This question may seem too personal, or out of line with your religious beliefs. But the truth is that if you pay taxes, you support Planned Parenthood.

As the media runs stories of candidates getting into trouble for donating to Planned Parenthood, it's noteworthy to mention how much the controversial organization receives on the public dole. In 2005 Planned Parenthood got $272 million in our taxes, twice the money it made from its 255,000 surgical abortions. Since 1987, Planned Parenthood has taken in $3.2 billion in taxpayer funds for its deadly agenda. So, since 1973 Planned Parenthood has aborted 3.8 million babies with the help of over 3.9 billion tax dollars.

But the buck doesn't stop there. A number of companies also donate large amounts of money to the pro-abortion organization including Walt Disney Co., Bank of America, Johnson and Johnson, Cole, Levi Strauss, Nationwide Insurance, Prudential, Unilever, Wachovia and Whole Foods. Between taxpayer dollars, corporate monies and other donations, Planned Parenthood had over $882 million in total revenue in 2005.

Many supporters of Planned Parenthood seem to be embarrassed about the organization's best known service -- abortion. Proponents argue that the money goes to other services, usually emphasizing adoption work. However, according to the most recent figures, Planned Parenthood did 264,943 abortions in 2005, an increase of over 100,000 from the year before (those abortions generated an estimated $99 million profit for Planned Parenthood.) In contrast, adoption referrals by Planned Parenthood have been steadily decreasing from 1,774 customers in 2003 to 1,414 in 2004 (the last years figures were known). In other words, for every 180 abortions Planned Parenthood did, they offered one adoption referral.

Additionally, Planned Parenthood appears to take many positions that are well outside of the mainstream. Pro-abortion forces went ballistic immediately following the recent Supreme Court decision limiting the senseless killing of innocent, partially-born babies, otherwise known as Partial Birth Abortion. A recent CNN poll following the decision found that a large majority of Americans supported the Supreme Court's decision to make the procedure illegal. Vanessa Cullins, a vice president of Planned Parenthood, immediately sent out a press statement voicing "disappointment" in the Supreme Court decision but "If you have an appointment, you should still come in" for a partial birth abortion.

The true story of Planned Parenthood is more easily told by how it treats the young women who come in for "counseling." Two recently controversial cases come from Ohio where girls, one as young as 14, were brought in for abortions. In one case it was the young girl's soccer coach who brought the underage girl in for the abortion. In the other case, it was the victim's own father, who had repeatedly raped and abused her. Despite laws requiring Planned Parenthood officials to report the crimes of statutory rape or incest, the law was not followed. The victims were only sold abortions, paid for by their abusers.

Sadly, Planned Parenthood so routinely gets exposed instructing statutory rapist on how not to get caught, there are videos which can be watched even now at YouTube.

Interestingly, Planned Parenthood opposes true pregnancy care centers where adoption counseling and assistance for mothers can be found as well as medical assistance. A real pregnancy care center offers women a true choice, and such centers clearly explain to women that the choice they are about to make is not between a woman and her doctor, but between a mother and her child.

Because Planned Parenthood is most concerned with "terminating the pregnancy," the organization also fights against issues like parental notice, medical facility standards for abortion clinics, and the release of records of underage abortions, even with names and addresses deleted. This is key because such pregnancies indicate that crimes have been committed against the girls. Planned Parenthood hides under the guise of "patient privacy," as they have in Indiana and Kansas.

Warren County, Ohio, Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel has a different, more realistic theory regarding Planned Parenthood's reluctance to discuss the underage girls. She states, "My guess is that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that is why Planned Parenthood will do anything to prevent us from seeing its records."

If candidates, corporations and politicians want to continue to stand up for and financially support Planned Parenthood, knowing about its despicable practices, that is their choice. However, it's time to have a public conversation about the $272 million tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood each year. To make the American taxpayer an unwitting accomplice to crimes upon our children is too much to ask.

topics:
Taxes, Abortion, Law, Supreme Court