WASHINGTON — Following a several month delay, Planned Parenthood has released its annual report, which reveals that the number of abortions performed by the organization are the highest since 2011 while the number of women using Planned Parenthood’s services in general continues to be the lowest in a decade.
The abortion and contraception giant releases the report each year to tout its achievements, which include services largely centering around sexual activity.
“Planned Parenthood has spent a century expanding and protecting access to sexual and reproductive health care and information so all people feel empowered to build the future they want,” the organization wrote in the introduction to its new report. “[W]e have much to be proud of in our first 100 years.”
While the organization noted that abortion rates in the U.S. are the lowest since the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, its annual tally also showed that Planned Parenthood performed 328,348 abortions during the 2015-2016 fiscal year—the highest level since its 2011-2012 report, which tallied 333,964 abortions.
Planned Parenthood reported 323,999 abortions for its 2014-2015 fiscal year, 327,653 abortions for its 2013-2014 fiscal year, and 327,166 abortions for its 2012-2013 fiscal year.
However, the 2014-2015 figures showed that the number of women visiting Planned Parenthood is the lowest in almost a decade, and this week’s report showed only a slight increase. From 2013-2014, a reported 10,590,333 services were provided, from the provision of contraceptives, to STD testing, to abortion and other sexually-related services.
The following fiscal year, Planned Parenthood’s services dropped to 9,455,582—nearly a million fewer. In 2015-2016, Planned Parenthood provided 9,494,977 services to a reported 2.4 million men and women, down from 2.5 million the year prior.
As it has been in previous years, Planned Parenthood’s largest focus was sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), as it tested and/or treated over four million people for sexual ailments, with over 3.5 million tests.
Prevention and treatment for ailments contracted through sexual activity was significantly increased from the year prior, with 53,396 people receiving treatment for the human papillomavirus and other unspecified issues, compared to 32,233 in 2014-2015.
Second in line to STD’s was the provision of contraception, which included the performance of over 500 sterilization procedures on women and over 3,300 vasectomy operations on men nationwide. These surgeries render an individual infertile, unable to conceive children for life.
Over 2.8 million people were provided with contraceptives or other forms of birth control in 2015—from temporary to permanent, including over 700 thousand emergency contraception kits—down 200 thousand from the year prior. This figure continues to decrease, as 3.7 million contraceptives were provided in 2012, 3.5 million in 2013, and 2.9 million in 2014.
Only 9,419 women obtained prenatal care as many Planned Parenthood locations do not offer the service, and just 2,073 mothers obtained miscarriage care. Only 2,024 adoption referrals were provided compared to the 328,348 abortions performed.
While the provision of contraceptives was down and abortion was up, the organization’s taxpayer funding was also up to $554 million from $553 million the year before, and $528 million in 2013, which equated to 41 percent of its total income. It also received $257 million in private contributions.
$45 million of Planned Parenthood’s income was used for sex education—down three million from the year prior—and $38 million was used for public policy, or to influence legislation. Despite its expenditures, it still garnered a $77 million dollar profit, labeled as “excess of revenue,” up from $58 million in 2014.
“Planned Parenthood’s newly released 2015-2016 annual report reveals that abortion continues to be a big business for the nation’s number one abortion chain, as taxpayer funding rises and other services continue their downward trend,” Glen Foster, the president of Americans United for Life, said in a statement.
“Despite reports that the number of abortions performed in the United States is declining, Planned Parenthood once again reports an increase in the number of human lives ended in their facilities: 328,348 abortions last year. Additionally, despite their repeated claims that American women rely on them for life-saving health care services, many of their non-abortion services have continued to decrease,” he noted.
“Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood provides less than 1 percent of the nation’s Pap tests and less than 2 percent of its breast exams and cancer screenings,” also remarked Alexandra Desanctis of the National Review.
“The organization claims that women will lose essential care if it is defunded, but its clinics are outnumbered 20-to-1 nationwide by federally qualified health centers, which under the GOP plan would receive government funding in lieu of Planned Parenthood,” she added. “In California, the state with the most Planned Parenthood clinics by far, the abortion group has a mere 114 facilities compared with 1,694 community health clinics.”
