The Minnesota affiliate of the Planned Parenthood abortion business will hold a fundraising gala Monday, August 29 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis that, in part, honors the chief of staff of Governor Mark Dayton.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is the keynote speaker for the event but, the fundraiser will also “honor Tina Smith for her passion and commitment to Planned Parenthood.” Smith is a former Planned Parenthood executive who is now Gov. Mark Dayton’s Chief of Staff. As expected, pro-abortion Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed, earlier this year, two pro-life bills that would have banned late-term abortions and prohibited taxpayer funding of abortions in the state.
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life commented on the event today and noted that Planned Parenthood’s abortions have increased even as the number of abortions in Minnesota have dropped to historic lows.
“Planned Parenthood is the leading performer and promoter of abortion in Minnesota — managing to increase its abortion totals even as abortions overall decline — and has come under intense scrutiny nationwide after undercover investigations exposed the group’s willingness to cover up underage sex abuse, misinform pregnant women and break the law,” the group said.
Planned Parenthood aborted more unborn babies than ever in 2010 even though the total number of abortions dropped more than seven percent to 11,505, according to the latest Abortion Report issued today by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The surge continues a trend of Planned Parenthood performing more abortions, regardless of whether the annual total rises or falls.
Planned Parenthood increased its abortions by a stunning 64 percent from 2000 to 2010, while total abortions dropped more than 22 percent over the same period. Planned Parenthood now performs 35 percent of all abortions in the state—its highest percentage ever. It was the only provider to perform more abortions in 2010 over the previous year.
“Planned Parenthood officials need to stop claiming they want to reduce abortions in Minnesota, because the statistics don’t lie,” said Scott Fischbach, Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL). “With its massive new abortion clinic under construction in St. Paul, which will be the nation’s third largest, Planned Parenthood is poised to further expand its already bloated business of killing the unborn in record numbers.”
The 2010 Abortion Report shows the lowest rate of abortions since 1974. Abortions performed on minor girls fell 16.8 percent to 482, the lowest number on record (statistics for minors go back to 1975) and down to 4 percent of all abortions. Minor abortions peaked at 2,327 in 1980. Minnesota’s effective 1981 parental notification law continues to bring together parents and their pregnant minor daughters to make life-affirming decisions.
More women are being hurt by abortion. Complications such as a perforated uterus and incomplete abortion nearly doubled, rising to 164 in 2010.
There were other increases last year. Chemical abortions using the dangerous and sometimes lethal RU486 drug combination rose to 20.7 percent of all abortions, continuing a steady increase. Taxpayer-funded abortions increased to 33.8 percent of all abortions—the highest percentage since the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that taxpayers must pay for elective abortions. Self-funded abortions are at their lowest level since reporting began in 1998.
The total number of reported abortions performed in Minnesota since 1973 is 567,155.
