LIFE DIGEST: Planned Parenthood’s abortions increase by 15,000
- Apr 13, 2009
Business is still booming for Planned Parenthood.
The country’s No. 1 abortion provider increased its count of the lethal procedures by more than 15,000 and again totaled $1 billion in revenue, according to its newly released annual report.
Affiliates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) recorded 305,310 abortions in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are reported. In 2006, PPFA accounted for 289,750 abortions.
Also in this edition: Virginia’s Kaine endorses ‘Choose Life’ plate and Ban sought on abortions based on sex, race and Pro-life float dropped from tulip parades
Its total revenue reached $1.04 billion, with $349.6 million of that figure coming in government grants and contracts. Those figures are based on the financial year from July 2007 to June 2008.
PPFA’s abortion figures include those performed by surgical means in its clinics, as well as those done by use of the abortion pill RU 486.
Planned Parenthood may be responsible for far more abortions, however. PPFA distributed more than 1.4 million “emergency contraception” kits in 2007. “Emergency contraception,” also known as the “morning-after” pill or Plan B, works to restrict ovulation in a woman, but it also can act after conception, thereby causing an abortion. This mechanism of the drug blocks implantation of a tiny embryo in the uterine wall.
Planned Parenthood managed to prosper again in spite of a series of investigative reports showing employees at some affiliates seeking to cover up alleged statutory rape cases and despite a growing knowledge of its eugenic roots.
Members of Live Action, a California-based organization led by college students, have secretly video taped Planned Parenthood employees in Arizona and Indiana ignoring state laws requiring reporting of sexual abuse of underage minors. They also provided advice on how parental involvement laws could be avoided in order to obtain secret abortions.
In another undercover investigation by Live Action, Planned Parenthood workers were caught on audio tape agreeing to receive donations designated for the abortion of African-American babies.
Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, promoted eliminating “the unfit” from the human race.
“Planned Parenthood’s numbers are not nearly what its leaders would have liked to see,” said Douglas Scott, president of Life Decisions International, which focuses on exposing Planned Parenthood’s agenda. “The more public ‘black eyes’ Planned Parenthood receives, the harder it will be for the group to reach its goals.
“For decades now, Planned Parenthood has operated the most proficient killing machine in the United States,” Scott said in a written statement.
Virginia’s Kaine endorses ‘Choose Life’ plate
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, bucked the political party for which he is national chairman and the abortion-rights activists who make up a significant constituency in it to sign two bills favored by pro-life advocates.
On March 30, Kaine signed a bill establishing a “Choose Life” specialty license plate for automobiles. He also endorsed legislation prohibiting a state fund from providing money to organizations that perform embryonic stem cell research. Extracting stem cells from an embryo destroys the tiny human being.
The stem cell funding ban bars grants for research “on human cells or tissue derived from induced abortions or from stem cells obtained from human embryos,” according to CNN.
After the first 1,000 “Choose life” plates are sold, 60 percent of the $25 annual cost would go to pregnancy help centers in the state, The Washington Post reported.
Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-choice America, two leading abortion-rights organizations, were especially displeased with Kaine’s endorsement of the “Choose Life” bill, since it funnels support to pro-life pregnancy centers.
Virginia, which has more than 200 specialty plates, has a “longtime practice of approving specialty plates with all manner of political and social messages,” Kaine said in a written statement after signing the bill. “Furthermore, if Planned Parenthood – an organization that is already a recipient of state budget funds – or another similar organization ever chooses to seek a specialty license plate in Virginia, I believe the Constitution would require the state to approve that plate to protect against any viewpoint discrimination.”
Ban sought on abortions based on sex, race
Rep. Trent Franks, R.-Ariz., has introduced a bill in Congress to ban abortions based on the sex or race of the unborn child.
The Susan B. Anthony/Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, H.R. 1822, would prohibit knowingly performing or accepting funding for a sex- or race-selection abortion.
Franks, who is a member of North Phoenix Baptist Church, said sex-selection abortion is not only a problem in other countries but evidence in the U.S. census demonstrates the practice has reached this country. He also said 50 percent of babies carried by African-American women are aborted.
“Taking the lives of unborn children because they are the wrong sex or color is against everything our founding fathers dreamed America would become,” Franks said in a written statement after the bill was introduced March 31.
Pro-life float dropped from tulip parades
A pro-life organization will not have a float in the parades of the Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Mich., breaking a 25-year tradition.
Tulip Time’s board of directors confirmed its decision to bar Right to Life of the Holland Area from participating in the May festivities, The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press reported April 9. The board said it had a long-standing rule against issue-oriented entrants but had never enforced it until this year after it received its 501 © 3 non-profit status, according to The Press. That designation prevents the festival from permitting entrants that seek to influence legislation, a festival representative said, the newspaper reported.
The Republican Party’s application for a float was accepted, as were the entries of faith-based groups that were participants last year, according to The Press.
“We’re confused and totally shocked by this,” Right to Life Executive Director Carol Brower said after the initial notice of rejection, The Press reported. “Right to Life is part of this community and we want to continue being part of the parade.”
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