Minnesota Planned Parenthood Rep: We’re Not to Blame for Abortion Jump 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 3, 2007
Minneapolis, MN (LifeNews.com) — After years of declining abortion totals, Minnesota saw its abortion figures jump five percent in 2006 compared with the 2005 numbers. Pro-life groups say Planned Parenthood is to blame because they are opening more facilities, but a representative of the abortion business calls that notion ridiculous.
As LifeNews.com reported, new figures from the state health department reveal 14,065 abortions were reported in Minnesota in 2006, compared to 13,362 in 2005.
Scott Fischbach, executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, says Planned Parenthood is responsible because it is targeting teens and opened two new retail mall locations that refer teenagers to its abortion facilities.
He points to the fact that abortions on Minnesota teenagers in 2006 jumped at an alarming rate of 16 percent compared with the 2005 numbers as proof.
But Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood in Minnesota, disagrees and told the Mankato Free Press that Fischbach’s explanation is “patently ridiculous.”
She claimed the new mall centers offer contraception that would only lead to the decline of abortions and that the main customer base there is 21-29 despite the fact that local malls are a key teen hangout.
“I don’t know what world they live in to make an allegation that a birth control clinic leads to abortion. I think most Minnesotans view that as overheated rhetoric," she told the newspaper.
However, Bill Poehler, communications director for the state pro-life group, defends MCCL’s analysis of the abortion increase.
“The only thing that’s changed [from 2005] is Planned Parenthood has opened express clinics, feeder clinics in a couple of the suburbs," he told the Mankato paper. “When these clinics open the number of abortions in the area goes up significantly."
The focus on teens has paid dividends for the abortion business, with a steady increase in new customers. Planned Parenthood performed more abortions than ever last year, increasing its business by 21 percent in a single year, the greatest increase of any abortion business in the sate.
For the third year in a row, Planned Parenthood did more abortions than any other abortion business in the state. Abortions rose by 703 in Minnesota last year; Planned Parenthood increased its abortions by 648 for a total of 3,660, capturing nearly all of the increase.
Related web sites:
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life – https://www.mccl.org
