In the future, 2016 will likely be a standout year in history books. Once the pages are written, Planned Parenthood’s chapter may very well sound like a humorously titled children’s book about a child having a terrible day — but Cecile Richards and the abortion chain workers won’t be laughing. As 2017 dawns, the abortion giant is lamenting its losses and trying desperately to cling to the threads of hope it has left.
Planned Parenthood Sees Promise in Early 2016.
Until the middle of last year, Planned Parenthood was perched on its perennial high horse, proclaiming success. The year began with an indictment again David Daleiden and his Center for Medical Progress partner, Sandra Merritt. A Texas grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of charges and indicted those who exposed it, leading the abortion giant to claim a mighty victory. Gloating, the abortion profiteer declared that the truth had come out and “women’s health” would not be stopped. And the circumstances seemed to support that narrative — for a few months.
June brought a Supreme Court ruling that promised abortionists more abortions, and the abortion profiteer declared victory in a letter to supporters. Vice President Dawn Laguens wrote on June 27:
[T]he Supreme Court just issued a ruling, and it’s a big win for women! The Court struck down two dangerous restrictions on abortion providers in Texas — protecting existing access in the state and, hopefully, allowing access to improve.
She followed it with an email June 30, reiterating the victory (and asking for money, of course): “On Monday the Supreme Court took its strongest stance on abortion rights since Roe v. Wade. It’s a major victory — and one that extremist lawmakers are already trying to undermine.” And Laura McQuade, president of Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains joined the email action last summer, declaring victory also, saying, “Monday, June 27th was a landmark victory for reproductive rights!… This is a major win for all of us who believe in fundamental human rights and the fullest access to sexual and reproductive health care. This ruling strengthens the work we do and will allow us to continue to expand access….”
Meanwhile, Richards was hand-in-hand with Hillary Clinton, having endorsed her presidential run. The favored presidential candidate promised to increase funding to the abortion chain and vowed her unwavering loyalty. With a seemingly clean criminal slate, a Supreme Court ruling that would help to expand abortion, and a politician in its pocket, the abortion giant thought it was sitting pretty.
A Sudden Change Breaks on the Scene, and No Damage Control is Available.
But suddenly, the abortion giant was lying under the rubble of its own making.
Suddenly, Planned Parenthood facilities were closing. An Operation Rescue report showed:
Twenty Planned Parenthood facilities that offered only non-abortion services were permanently closed. When the music stopped on Planned Parenthood’s version of musical chairs, 7% of Planned Parenthood’s non-abortion clinics had closed.
Yet the organization still claims abortion is only 3 percent of their services… while they close centers that don’t do them:
And while 2016 was thought to be Planned Parenthood’s biggest expansion opportunity, Operation Rescue’s report also revealed:
After a complex reorganization in services provided by Planned Parenthood facilities, Operation Rescue confirmed that there are now 214 medication abortion facilities, representing a net gain of only one facility over the past year…far lower that the net increase of 25 medication clinics recorded in 2015.
Congress Discovers the Truth Hidden Behind Planned Parenthood’s Doors, Recommending the Abortion Chain for Possible Prosecution.
As Live Action reported, “while Planned Parenthood paraded abortion as a mark of freedom, a congressional committee, the House Select Investigative Panel for Infant Lives, continued to investigate the practices of abortion providers and their sale of fetal parts.”
Indeed, suddenly the congressional panel had recommended the Houston Planned Parenthood affiliate for criminal charges in the baby parts trafficking scandal. That’s the same affiliate that the abortion giant thought was in the clear after the grand jury indicted CMP workers. But as Texas Right to Life noted, the story came full circle when a new D.A. was elected:
Unfortunately, former Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson mismanaged the case to the benefit of her friends at Planned Parenthood. In a disastrous miscarriage of justice, the grand jury indicted citizen journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the heroes who documented the shocking misconduct of Planned Parenthood. Anderson failed to prosecute Planned Parenthood after they were caught red-handed in blatant wrong-doing. The felony charges against Daleiden and Merritt were later dropped but their indictment remains a disgrace to Harris County. Last month, voters let Anderson know that her collusion with the anti-Life lobby and embarrassing mismanagement of such a monumental case would not be tolerated. Anderson lost her bid for re-election as the Harris County District Attorney.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t only the House panel that was giving Planned Parenthood criminal nightmares, but the Senate Judiciary Committee referred several Planned Parenthood affiliates to the FBI and the United States Department of Justice for possible criminal charges in their roles in fetal tissue practices and transfers.
Planned Parenthood Suffers a Heavy Election Loss and Finds Defunding on the Horizon in 2017.
But the abortion chain’s true nightmare came not from potential criminal charges but from the presidential election, where their abortion ally was soundly defeated, thereby electing Donald J. Trump as the next president. Trump had run on a pro-life platform and vowed to defund Planned Parenthood. His running mate, Vice President-Elect Mike Pence, is known for being a staunch pro-lifer as governor of Indiana… and so, the abortion giant saw a bleak future for unfettered abortion.
As 2016 slid to a close last week, the laments of the year echoed loudly from the abortion chain, as it begged for money with multiple desperate fundraising pleas in the last half of December alone. Using fear of losing “health care,” the Planned Parenthood fundraising letters all imply that unless supporters give money, the abortion chain may lose its funding and have to stop providing services:
And that’s how Planned Parenthood’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year came to a close.
