WASHINGTON – Today, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates, applauded the decision of U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt to deny a request by Planned Parenthood of Indiana for a temporary restraining order against a new Indiana law that denies state-directed funding for businesses and organizations performing abortions in the state. Judge Pratt's order allows the funding cuts passed by the Indiana legislature and signed by Governor Mitch Daniels earlier this month to immediately take effect.
"Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest provider and promoter of abortion," said National Right to Life President Carol Tobias. "As Planned Parenthood's government funding increased so did the number of abortions they performed."
According to Planned Parenthood Federation of America's annual report for 2008-2009, which reported over $1 billion in revenues, the amount it received in "Government Grants & Contracts" has gone from $165 million in 1998 to $363.3 million in the organization's fiscal year ending June 30, 2009. During the same time, and at roughly the same rate, abortions have more than doubled at Planned Parenthood, from 165,509 in 1998 to 332,278 in 2009. With just over 1.2 million abortions performed annually nationwide, abortions done in Planned Parenthood clinics account for more than 25% of the national total.
"Using the average estimates for the cost of a first-trimester abortion ($451), Planned Parenthood clinics derived more than one-third ($149.9 million) of their reported $404.9 million in income from abortions in 2008-2009," Tobias noted.
National Right to Life Director of Education and Research Randall K. O'Bannon, Ph.D., has done extensive research and reporting on Planned Parenthood's abortion business. His two most recent analyses can be found here:
"While other businesses and non-profit organizations struggled during the recession, Planned Parenthood's bottom line continued to swell," Tobias added. "The bottom line is, taxpayers shouldn't be forced to underwrite Planned Parenthood and its affiliates."
The National Right to Life Committee NRLC, the federation of 50 state right-to-life organizations and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide, is the nation’s largest pro-life group. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect those threatened by abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and assisted suicide.
