In 2011, Planned Parenthood committed 31.6 percent of all the abortions in the United States. A study from the Guttmacher Institute along with Planned Parenthood’s 2011 annual report shows that Planned Parenthood is responsible for performing almost one out of every three abortions in our nation.
And a review of historical data shows a sharp rise in Planned Parenthood’s market share:
Planned Parenthood US abortion market-share: 1980: 3.9% 1990: 8% 2000: 15% 2008: 26.7% 2011: 31.6% Source: Guttmacher, Planned Parenthood
— Live Action News (@LiveAction_News) February 5, 2014
The Guttmacher Institute made recent headlines after releasing the news that national abortion rates are the lowest they’ve been since 1973. Planned Parenthood stated that these numbers are a result of the work they’ve done distributing birth control. Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, remarked:
This report shows that rates of pregnancy dropped overall, and so did the rate of abortion. The report concludes that access to a range of birth control methods is playing an important role in reducing unintended pregnancy and decreasing the need for abortion.
Pro-life groups like Operation Rescue released their own study that highlights the closing of 87 surgical abortion clinics in 2013 and 73 percent of all abortion clinics since 1991. Operation Rescue shares that these clinic closings have certainly played an important role in the national abortion rate decrease.
A Operation Rescue report, titled “Death Throes of the Death Industry,” explained that the number of surgical abortion clinics in the U.S. has gone from 2,176 in 1991 to 582 in 2013.
President of Operation Rescue Troy Newman remarked on the decline, saying: “These numbers show that the pro-life movement is gaining ground and that the abortion industry is collapsing – mostly due to its own negligence and greed, which has been exposed by their unwillingness and inability to comply with even the most rudimentary safety standards.”
Tragically, even with the abortion rate decreasing, the Guttmacher and Planned Parenthood reports show that Planned Parenthood’s abortion business is still booming. According to a report from the American Life League, in 2012 alone, Planned Parenthood brought in $170 million from abortions. That’s a whooping 55.7 percent of the organization’s non-government clinic income.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards makes it clear that she’s proud of her organization’s abortion work, saying:
Planned Parenthood is proud to provide abortion services for women who make the deeply personal decision to end a pregnancy, we are proud to fight for a woman’s right to make that decision without interference from politicians, and we are proud to provide birth control that prevents that need for abortion in the first place.
Abortions are decreasing in our nation, while Planned Parenthood’s abortion market share is booming. In my opinion, that’s nothing for Planned Parenthood to be proud of.