Aid not appropriate for Planned Parenthood

You may be surprised to learn that Planned Parenthood (PP) is currently buying $200,000 worth of cable and network TV and radio time in Washington, DC. Why? The Senate will soon be voting on the Pence Amendment.

Recently passed by the House of Representatives, the Pence Amendment would ensure that Planned Parenthood’s abortion business is not eligible for taxpayer dollars across any federal programs or departments.

The advertising blitz is designed to mislead lawmakers to vote against it by emphasizing the non-abortion services Planned Parenthood supposedly offers.

Planned Parenthood has boasted that it provides mammograms as a service for women.

However, recent revelations show that they do not offer mammograms at any of their centers nationwide.

They tout their prenatal services, but the numbers on their own website show that nationwide Planned Parenthood provided prenatal care to only 7,021 women while performing 332,278 abortions.

Stated another way, 97.6 percent of their clients are sold abortions and less than 2.4 percent receive prenatal care or adoption referrals.

This represents a 25 percent decrease in prenatal care clients and a whopping 59 percent decline in adoption referrals over the previous year. Planned Parenthood’s own reports show consistent annual increases in the number of abortions they perform — up 5.3 percent in 2007, 6.1 percent in 2008 and 2.5 percent in 2009.

The organization’s most recent numbers show that they have increased their share of the U.S. abortion industry to 27.6 percent. If Planned Parenthood can afford to spend $200,000 on media ads to promote services they don’t provide, they really do not need my tax dollars.

Bonnie Quirke

Libertyville