Yesterday’s blog raised a lot of response from our readers on their experiences with Planned Parenthood after the story of 17-year old Addison who found herself pregnant and went to Planned Parenthood because she was uninsured, only to find out that the abortion provider sent her away because it didn’t really treat pregnant women.
This belies the adage that Planned Parenthood preaches from its pulpits constantly: freedom of choice. Grounded in the principle that women should have a choice of what to do with their bodies (clearly ignoring that when another body begins, they should not have a choice to kill it), Planned Parenthood repeatedly shows it doesn’t really want women to have a choice if that choice involves a baby. This begs the question, what is Planned Parenthood doing with all its profits? What was it using all that Medicaid money on if it’ not using it for prenatal care and it can’t use it on abortions.
Texas has recently defunded Planned Parenthood, but I took a look at the office where Addison went for help, the Gulf Freeway supercenter in Houston, part of Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast, which, according to its IRS Form 990 tax return last year reported an income of $17,380,548, with total assets of over $46 million. As you can see below, it received almost $7 million in Medicaid funds. You can access the whole return here.
The question I have is where all those millions of dollars of federal funding go if they routinely kick pregnant women out the door. Annual exams, sure, maybe, but $7 million worth? What about all that profit for a nonprofit? We know that uninsured girls like Addison still get charged full price for some services. Birth control? Maybe, but when an agency is receiving millions of dollars and calls itself a vehicle of women’s health care, it should be caring for all women not just the ones who choose abortion.
There’s a disconnect here between what Planned Parenthood says and does, obviously. I looked at its Houston website, where Addison visited, and the information on their own page. They list insurance programs accepted, including the Texas Women’s Health Program, but when you click on it for more information, the link only redirects back to this page. Instead of getting information on the Texas program that would help people like Addison, what you get is a link to another Planned Parenthood page of propaganda which tells you the political stance of the angry pro-abortion group at having their funding cut, but no information on the uninsured getting help in the Texas program. That may be because Planned Parenthood has had its funding cut from the state of Texas. (By the way, if you are in need of services in Texas, you can click here for information from the state, who is still providing for all women).
When the Texas legislature pulled Planned Parenthood funding this year, it received much ire from the pro-abortion industry who has lashed out against Texas governor Rick Perry. But when Planned Parenthood takes in millions of dollars in profits in just one affiliate, but turns away a scared teenager who refuses abortion, it’s a pretty good example of why it shouldn’t receive funds. Federal monies, by order of the Hyde Amendment, cannot be used for abortion, so if they are not used for abortion, and they are not used for pregnant women, that leaves a lot of money for birth control and STD treatment. That’s not representative of serving all women. If Planned Parenthood really cared about women and cared about its money, it would be in its best interest to treat pregnant women, too, and help them deliver safely. An agency like this should not have government funding on any level.
We see a lot of political anger from Planned Parenthood, and a lot of petitions, but strangely, when we look at the bottom line we see huge profits on their own tax returns, millions of dollars in assets, and 17 year old girls booted out with no referrals for help because abortion isn’t an option.
The only choice Planned Parenthood wants is their choice of how to spend their profits from the shedding of innocent blood.
Tomorrow, we will look at some responses from other women who have been to Planned Parenthoods in the nation through the years.
LifeNews Note: This column originally appeared at Bound4Life’s blog and is reprinted with permission.
