Yesterday, Planned Parenthood released their 2015-2016 annual report — six months later than usual. Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, issued the following statement in response:
“In the midst of a desperate fight to prove their relevance and fitness for federal funding, Planned Parenthood quietly released their latest annual report to their stakeholders (read: taxpayers). Planned Parenthood is hoping this year’s release will go unnoticed and is counting on the mainstream media, which basically serves as an extension of their PR department, for that cover.
“For an organization that is so ‘proud’ of what they do, yesterday’s release was met with radio silence. With the exception of a subtle website change noting the decrease in patients served, there was no Tweet storm or Facebook live update, no Twitter-sponsored hashtag, no bright pink email blast, and no celebrity endorsement. Upon glancing at the report, it is no surprise why.
“Since 2012, Planned Parenthood has suffered a steady loss of 600,000 patients; this year serving only 2.4 million compared to 2.5 million last year. Prenatal services are almost cut in half from last year’s numbers, although they did perform 4,349 more abortions this year. Contraception services are down; cancer screening and prevention services are down, and overall services have suffered a 12.6% drop since 2011. Government funding made up 41% of their revenue this year.
“This year’s report isn’t a fluke or a result of bad press from ‘heavily edited’ videos. It is a pattern. For an organization who spent millions this past election cycle, who has $1.5 billion in net assets, who’s CEO got a substantial bump in pay, its unfounded to say women will lose care or that Planned Parenthood will shut down without federal dollars. They’re fine.
“Planned Parenthood’s annual report spends pages in La-la-land pretending last year’s Center for Medical Progress videos were the first inclination of their shady practices. As if the criminal and regulatory referrals made by the House in 2016 to the Department of Justice are meaningless. Planned Parenthood workers have been caught on tape aiding and abetting sex traffickers and failing to report statutory rape. Furthermore, fifty-one known audits of Planned Parenthood and affiliate billing procedures showed chronic Medicaid over billing totaling almost $8.5 million in false claims. This isn’t exactly a smear campaign based on ‘fake news’ and ‘heavily edited footage.’
“Most women don’t choose to go to Planned Parenthood, but instead choose to visit one of the almost 14,000 Federally Qualified Health Centers located nationwide. This year’s reconciliation bill redirects Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid reimbursement to these centers which care for the whole woman and serve the underinsured, rural, and low-income communities. Women are going elsewhere, and federal funding should follow.”