Stop the funding for Planned Parenthood

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters on March 17 that defunding Planned Parenthood in the continuing resolution bill “won’t be part of an agreement.” Planned Parenthood, according to its most currently published annual report, has nearly $1 billion in assets. Excluding government grants and contracts, its affiliates brought in $634 million in revenue in its fiscal year 2008-2009, not including $117 million in revenue to the national office.

This organization provides more abortions than any other organization in the United States. Its pregnancy services are extremely skewed toward abortion — for every adoption referral Planned Parenthood makes, it performs 340 abortions. According to its 2009 report, 98 percent of its services to pregnant women are abortion.

Planned Parenthood is not a significant primary care provider for women, who have at their disposal over 1,000 federally qualified health centers that provide cancer screening, contraception and STI testing. This number does not even include the tens of thousands of U.S. doctors and hospitals providing this care.

Just to clarify, Planned Parenthood does not need government money to stay afloat. What it wants is validity in the public eye. Receiving federal money gives the organization such legitimacy; this in turn allows this abortion mill to keep making its millions.

Abortion and birth control are constitutionally protected services. Defunding Planned Parenthood cannot change this fact, or deprive Planned Parenthood of its freedom to continue to provide these services. There is no reasonable justification for continuing to dole out public funds to Planned Parenthood. We are in the midst of a financial crisis in this country — eliminate Planned Parenthood from our bankroll!

Dana Albers

Arlington Heights