11 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Planned Parenthood
This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission. Learn more in our disclosure.
Depending on what your perspective is, Planned Parenthood is known either as a women’s healthcare provider or an abortion mill. Whatever your thoughts are, I think you’ll be surprised by the information in this post.
At the time of the writing of this post, there were bunch of undercover videos released implicating PPFA in the apparent selling of infant body parts.
These videos have drawn a lot of attention from both the “pro-life” and the “pro-choice” side, with the pro-life side stating that Planned Parenthood has committed felonies by selling human body parts, and many on the pro-choice side stating that the parts are for medical research, and/or that the videos have been doctored.
I am personally disgusted by these videos, but there are many other things about Planned Parenthood that I think deserve the attention of the media and of all U.S. citizens.
Whatever side of the “life/choice” debate you are on, I hope that you will read these, think about them, and keep an open mind as you do so.
I am more than happy to respond to any and all comments, on both sides of the debate. I did my best to do thorough research and encourage conversation about all of these points.
I’d love to hear what you think about this information.
11 Facts About Planned Parenthood
1. A large amount of Planned Parenthood’s income comes from abortion.
Despite the fact that PP supporters continually claim that abortions comprise only 3% of the services that they provide, abortions are a large part of their income. In fact, Planned Parenthood made approximately $163,826,500 from abortions in the 2013 – 2014 year, assuming approximately $500 per abortion, which is a low-end estimation. A second-trimester abortion can cost well over $1,000. For a more detailed explanation of how the 3% claim is inaccurate, go here or here.
Basically, stating that abortion is only 3% of PPFA’s operation is similar to saying that car sales are only a small percentage of a car dealership’s business. Of course, the dealership provides financing, washes cars, does service on cars, and leases cars, but the primary reason for a car dealer to be in existence is to sell cars.
2. Prenatal Services amount to only 0.27% of all of Planned Parenthood’s services.
One of the big claims that PPFA makes is that they provide all kinds of services, besides just abortions, including valuable prenatal services. However, they provide almost none of these. Only 18,684 in 2013 – 2014.
3. Over 46% of Planned Parenthood’s income comes from taxpayers.
According to Planned Parenthood’s annual report (2013 – 2014), they took in $528,400,000 from “Government Health Services Grants and Reimbursements.” This amount represents 46.12% of their total income.
4. Planned Parenthood has provided low-dose birth control pills, planning for failure and more abortions
See the documentation here, and here. The pills are either received at a PPFA clinic, or PPFA gives out a prescription for the woman to receive them elsewhere.
5. Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, Targeted the Elimination of Blacks, Jews, and More.
Here are some quotes attributed to her:
– Referring to immigrants and Catholics, she wrote: “[They’re] an unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.”
– “We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.” — Margaret Sanger’s December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon’s Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.
– “[Slavs, Latin, and Hebrew immigrants are] human weeds … a deadweight of human waste … [Blacks, soldiers, and Jews are a] menace to the race.” — Margaret Sanger, April 1933 Birth Control Review
6. Planned Parenthood’s Founder Advocated Mandatory Sterilization
– “Give dysgenic groups [people with ‘bad genes’] in our population their choice of segregation or [compulsory] sterilization. — Margaret Sanger, April 1932 Birth Control Review.
7. Planned Parenthood has Aided Sex Trafficking
PPFA has a history of aiding and abetting sex trafficking of girls as young as 14.
8. Planned Parenthood Has Strong Ties to Euthanasia
There are many ties between The American Birth Control League (which later became Planned Parenthood) and the National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia.
9. Planned Parenthood Is Independently Wealthy.
In their 2013-2014 Annual Report, they cite over $1,000,000,000 (1 billion) in net assets. I feel that their continuing to receive federal (taxpayer) funding when they have this amount of resources at their disposal is unethical, particularly when our nation is currently $18 trillion in debt. Here is the current debt clock so you can see the current status of our debt to other nations: https://www.usdebtclock.org/.
10. Planned Parenthood Does Not Provide Mammograms
Contrary to popular belief, the organization only refers for mammograms but has no mammography equipment in any of its clinics.
11. Planned Parenthood’s President, Cecile Richards, Earned Almost $600,000 in 2013.
Cecile Richards, PPFA’s President earnings in 2013 were $590,928.
The average of the Top 10 PPFA Affiliate’s CEO salaries is over $300,000. You can see several charts detailing this information here. (Note — this article was removed after the publication of this post, but you can see information on high-paying jobs at PPFA here.)
UPDATE 8/8/15:
12. Planned Parenthood Targets Minorities
PPFA is willing to accept donations that are earmarked for specific minorities. Listen to the recordings at the bottom of this article.
Conclusion:
This is, of course, not a debate about whether or not abortion is right or wrong, though I am fine talking about that issue. This is merely about concerns I have about Planned Parenthood. About them as a corporation and about what they and their supporters say about them in defense of their practices.
Did you know about any of these facts?
Please share to get the truth out.
Thank you for having the courage to write these facts. I have shared this on my Facebook page. May the Lord have mercy on our land.
Thanks so much, Miller. I think we all need to avoid the “spiral of silence” where we don’t say things just b/c others think we shouldn’t.
This is an offensive article. I shall be removing myself from your blog also. Why? Because you have offended me, that’s why. It’s every woman’s right to choose her path. What makes you think that planned parenthood shouldn’t make a profit? They have every right to profit from their services just like every other company. Who cares what brings in the most money. And really? A quote from 1932? Is that a joke? Pretty funny you asked us to keep an open mind when you sure don’t have one.
Hello, Rose, and thanks so much for commenting. I hope you will take the time to read this response when it arrives in your inbox.
May I ask what is offensive about the article? I didn’t state anything about having a problem with them making a profit. Of course that is fine. However, I do think that with the kind of salaries they are making and the kind of assets they have that taking taxpayer monies, particularly when our government debt is over $18,000,000,000,000 (18 trillion) is unacceptable. Here is a link to the debt clock, which I think I will put in the post now as well. https://www.usdebtclock.org/
I do care what brings in the most money. Planned Parenthood continues to state that abortion is only 3% of their business, when in fact, that is completely not true. I merely stated facts, so I don’t know why you would state that my post is offensive. PPFA is the one that is manipulating the truth and that, regardless of which side one is on regarding the abortion issue, is what I find to be offensive.
One other point, something being offensive isn’t really a reason remove oneself from my blog, in my opinion. I am offended by many things, including the selling of babies’ body parts, and our government’s continued corruption and lack of morality, but I continue to subscribe to many updates from blogs and view many videos regarding these things because I need to be informed. I think that the cry of “that offends me” is not really a valid one. I would love to know what you think about these things.
Regarding the quite from 1932, it is very relevant. Margaret Sanger’s thinking has certainly influenced PPFA to this day. In fact, they know it has and as such, her writings are almost completely scrubbed from libraries and the internet. People don’t want the connection to be known and so they tried to remove it from visibility.
I do, in fact, have an open mind. I don’t hold the same religious or political views that I was raised with in my family. We ate the Standard American Diet and used pharmaceuticals and over the counter meds constantly and used typical mainstream personal care and home products.
I have done hours and hours of research into religions, politics, food, and toxicity issues and have made huge changes in all of these arenas in my life, even though it was very difficult to do so and in many cases cost me relationships, loads (multiple thousands) of money (most alternative care is not covered by insurance), and time (shopping for healthier options and doing research on them takes a lot more time than shopping for whatever package looks nice at the local store). I have sacrificed to keep my autistic (Asperger’s son) off of meds and heal him naturally, despite my originally thinking that autism was just an over-diagnosed condition. I used to think that food allergies were just people’s way of getting thin, but now I know differently about that as well.
To the contrary, I think I have an incredibly open mind until the proof becomes overwhelmingly obvious. However, even then, I am willing to change my mind. If you have points you would like to make to share with my why you think any of my other thoughts about PPFA (or even the ones you already addressed) are wrong, I am more than happy to hear them and change what I wrote if need be.
In fact, I am always looking at things that I sell / recommend on my blog to make sure that they meet the standards that I have. I had to re evaluate things like the oils companies that I originally worked for and you can see where that went in this series. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/the-great-essential-oils-showdown-in-search-of-the-best-essential-oils/
I do hope you will not unsubscribe and that you will reconsider. I think it is important that we keep sharpening each other and try to find out the truth, no matter how it makes us feel.
Take care.
I agree in an open discussion, but I disagree with you using quotes from 1932 as a relevant indicator for prejudice and corporate culture in 2015 or even 1960.
“Regarding the quite from 1932, it is very relevant. Margaret Sanger’s thinking has certainly influenced PPFA to this day. In fact, they know it has and as such, her writings are almost completely scrubbed from libraries and the internet. People don’t want the connection to be known and so they tried to remove it from visibility.”
Are you kidding me? Our society has evolved with knowledge and is still learning how to move beyond the ignorance of our past. Ford and Hugo Boss were vendors of Hitler. Do you think they advertise that now or make sure it is a noted portion of their past? Of course not. If we are to have a healthy discussion on Planned Parenthood services and your tax money then you need to not introduce information that is dated and irrelevant.
Hi Heza. Thanks for commenting.
I think that being a vendor for something and being the founder are two very different things. May I ask what you think about the racial earmarking of donated funds?
The bottom line is that Planned Parenthood and the pill were created to address a philosophy that was growing at that time that said controlling poverty could be helped by family planning. Unfortunately, eugenics also felt focused on minority groups in that poverty level but it wasn’t intended to be racial driven.
Hi again, Heza. Sanger’s philosophy is most certainly racially driven. You might wish to check out these black pro life sites / black pro life writers and see what they think: https://www.blackgenocide.org/black.html
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/21/j-kenneth-blackwell-black-abortions-a-crisis-in-am/
You are quoting opinion articles. You can find articles to support any opinion you want but you can’t quote them as facts. Yes, some interpreted it as a target to race and racism was rampant in her time, but for Planned Parenthood and much of her published work, she was economically focused on helping those in proverty—regardless of race.
Hi Heza.
If you want to show me the fuller context that shows me that it isn’t a racist comment, then I am happy to review it. On the surface it appears to me and most readers to be extremely racist. I and my readers would be extremely interested to see that and I would be happy to engage you on that.
Here is a link to the original document. At the very least, Sanger has a low opinion of the intelligence of the “Negro population.” From what I can tell she viewed the races / people groups that she refers to as lower than caucasians, don’t you think? https://smithlibraries.org/digital/files/original/d6358bc3053c93183295bf2df1c0c931.pdf
Both Black pro-life groups and the radical Angela Davis have used this quotation to demonstrate Sanger’s hostility to blacks.
Thanks much.
She is hardly polically correct. The mind set of that time was very different. Ignorance on racism, women’s rights and gay rights were everywhere. You can not view letters from that time through the lens of 2015. She is not your contemporary speaking like that. Her overall goal was helping those in poverty control how many mouths to feed. Today, planned parenthood is about giving choices to those that need them but can’t afford them….they provide education, prevention and clinical services.
So Heza, I don’t really know what else to say. Margaret Sanger spoke at the KKK. Ben Carson, a black neurosurgeon running for President (for those who don’t know) has condemned them and their racist origins and practices. The common thinking about her is that she was very racist and it has been that way for a long time. It is very very hard to find her original writings, most likely b/c they are so problematic.
It seems to me very clear that she considered that races other than caucasians were an issue.
As for the standpoint that killing is the way to deal with poverty, that is a whole other problem. I know you are talking about Sanger, but your last sentence leads me here. Do you think it is OK for a mother to kill her toddler if she is having trouble making ends meet?
If not, then why is it OK to kill an unborn, or partially born, baby. Thanks for continuing the dialogue. I very much appreciate the back and forth.
Hi again, Heza. I had one more thought in response to your comment. Sanger is not just found voicing controversial opinions about an unrelated topic. I am an affiliate for many companies whose founders I disagree with. However, Sanger’s writings are the foundation upon which she founded the American Birth Control League and so her thoughts and writings about why she did so are much more pertinent than, for example, a founder of an online retailer’s thoughts about a controversial topic that are not related at all to his / her business. Take Chick-fil-A for example. Truett Cathy’s thoughts on social issues are totally unrelated to his restaurants, and so I think that his thoughts are unrelated to his chicken and fast food products. There are some retailers who have their viewpoints pretty evident in their establishments. That’s a little more of a case to make, of course, but in the case of the quotes I presented about Sanger, the writings are about why she started the ABCL and so are very relevant to any conversation about PPFA, in my opinion.
Sanger’s writings were based on a philosophy called eugenics. She created PP with the belief that she was helping society by providing a way that those in poverty had choices and ways to control the size of their family. Not necessarily out of race but out of having mouths to feed. She definitely spoke in ways that would cause us to wince at the insensitivity, but her intention was offering help, education and options to families in poverty and that is true for Planned Parenthood today.
HI Heza. Sorry for responding to you late – I have been so inundated. I hear what you are saying but there are so many in the black community who think otherwise… and the connection w/ the KKK is very disconcerting to say the least. Do you not agree? Thanks again. I personally don’t think terminating life is helping. I get how some might think so, but it is still killing.
I’d just like to say, Way to go Adrienne! It is hard to speak the truth, especially when you know you stand with the minority opinion. Thank you for sharing facts, along with sources, so people can research for themselves as well. This article must have taken you a long time, and I’m sorry people are giving you a hard time about it. I have heard some of these facts before, and it breaks my heart what goes on here. I pray that God will remove the scales from their eyes, maybe this article can help. Thank you!
Thanks Suzanne. I do think that the “pro life” opinion has been gaining in popularity, but I did know that these facts would be troubling to many. I really wanted to present them in a way that would start dialogue rather than something that would be a “door shutting statement.” Thanks for adding to the conversation, and yes, it did take me quite awhile. Blessings.
I did know all of the above, but then I am president of a local affiliate of National Right to Life. Abortion increases your chance of breast cancer too, for the same reason that the length of time between puberty and your first live birth does.
I did know that about breast cancer, Mary. Of course, this wasn’t a post about abortion, per se, but about the organization of Planned Parenthood. That might be something to tackle in the future.
Thanks for commenting and for your work.
Wow. How deceptively well they were able to hide their true beginnings for so long. It is time for this kind of secrecy to be revealed. Thanks for all of this.
You are welcome, Judie. That is much of why I shared this post.
Thank you for posting this excellent article! The truth needs to be spread.
Thanks for the encouragement, Laura.
So agree!
well, well, well … it’s fine if you are concerned about where you tax dollars go, we all should be and maybe PP should have their feet held to the fire for some answers but we would have a LOT of unwanted children and all of the social depression issues that come with them. After all, as far as I know, PP is the only place where poor women can get a safe and legal abortion for a low price, and until there is an alternative choice that you can offer, you better hope PP continues because unwanted children become the burden of the who? TAXPAYERS! After all we have food stamps, tanf, and health insurance that we the taxpayer will pay for each unwanted child’s mother is FORCED to have.
Every woman (regardless of religious beliefs) has the right to say what goes on with their own bodies for their own reasons. Reasons that we are not to judge.
It’s all too easy to take the “moral high ground” until it happens to you!
By the way, it did almost happen to me. I was conceived out of wedlock to 2 parents in poverty and my grandparents wanted me to be aborted. My mother was disowned as a result so it took a lot of courage for her to do what she did. My childhood wasn’t happy overall by any means, but I am glad she gave me life. And so are my husband and our children.
I am concerned about where our tax dollars go. So I have a question for you – do you think it is OK to kill a toddler just because he or she is “unwanted”? I think there are other options. Like teaching abstinence and working on the fatherlessness issue that plagues our nation (and mainly our cities) vs just continuing the slaughter of babies which come as a result of our lack of morals and lack of addressing the real issues that are going on.
I think women should have the right to decide what goes on with their bodies, but there is another body involved here and that one doesn’t have a voice.
I don’t think that I am taking the “moral high ground” but yes, it is a moral statement.
Perhaps also Ben Carson is a good case to look at — he lived in the ghetto and now is a top neurosurgeon in the US.
Well…it happened to me too! I was raised upper middle class (born 1954) with all the morals and church to back it up but my parents hated my choice for a husband (I met him when I was 16 married at 20) and disowned me for it! We had a baby girl (she’s now 40). Turns out my parents were right, he became physically, mentally and sexually abusive. I must have left him 10 times and kept coming back to (abusive woman syndrome I now know) promises of love and every single time same thing only worse and worse, until I knew this man was going to kill me, finally after 10 years of marriage, divorce, which he fought tooth and nail! My parents put me up in a nice little duplex, one month later prego…ugh! So after agonizing and I DO mean AGONIZING decision…..and I never got pregnant again! I knew, during the decision, I would have to answer to God for it But in the end it will be me and me alone answering to God for my life choices! I am telling my story because I have been there and PP did council me with all the alternatives and discussed each one with me and then made me an appointment in 2 weeks and sent me home to think about it.
Ben Carson is the EXCEPTION and good for him, but he is in no way the norm for children brought up in poverty. Many unwanted are subject to abuse in copious ways not to mention born with drug addictions and all of the issues that entails. What kind of a life is that? Take a ride sometime to the poor side of town and have a look at how the children turned out. Don’t lock your car doors or roll up your windows though! (bet you won’t) You will see drug dealers and prostitutes, yes, and to the children, those folks are “da bomb” because they have money, nice cars and the adults promote their lifestyles as the right one despite the shootings and overdosing that the children see every day, These folks need HOPE brought to them to change this but no one does that, shelters and food kitchens are awesome but that’s a part of poverty not hope. And how about mother’s who work at a “normal” job, and makes 8 bucks an hour, trying to make ends meet? Have you priced a daycare or even a babysitter recently even if you get help from medicaid (they only pay so much)? Do the math! I just think we all need to really look at the whole big picture of the cost of no choice.
Oh Taylor. How terrible! I could tell you more about my situation — some things are very similar to your situation and others aren’t. I am so sorry for what you went through.
As for Ben Carson and the children ending up in poverty, here is the main point. We have to decide if the life in the womb is a baby or not. And if not – why not. I do not at all mean to trivialize your experience or others’. I have many many very very hard days (and had more in the past) with my son with his Asperger’s and high anxiety, and I basically felt as if I were dying about 5 years ago due to chronic fatigue type illness. It was worse than I could ever have imagined. But is killing someone the solution to this?
I think the toddler analogy is very helpful. When looking at the defense of abortion, simply put a toddler into the equation and determine if you think it is OK to kill a toddler for the same reason.
Does this make sense? Believe me, I have wanted the easy way out for many things in my life, but I am trying to do what is right instead of what is expedient.
Additionally, I don’t mean any of this to say that I always make the right decision. Far from it. I am always quick to say that I sin every second of the day (maybe that is an exaggeration??). By nature I look out for myself all the time and am not proud of it. I want to be more sacrificial and more selfless. I need to continually work at it.
You are right – there is a big picture here and it is much larger than just whether a child is wanted or not. Our societal issues are huge and need attention quickly or the problems ensuing from them will soon take over our country and there might be no turning back.
We need to strengthen families and empower parents in tough times to be in better situations, but just continuing the cycle of poverty and handouts and abortion is not working.
I would love to hear what you think. Thanks again for dialoguing about a very difficult issue.
So..it is a moral issue then, I thought it was about money!
I’m not sure what you mean by this comment. The point of this post was to bring up facts about Planned Parenthood that I suspect many people do not know. Those facts have to do with morality (as they relate to the accuracy of statements made about PPFA, how they use their money, and how they are funded), and sometimes about money, but not all of the points do. Margaret Sanger’s quotes do not have to do with money.
Pretty much everything has to do with morality, except for pure factual statements that aren’t being discussed as proving or disproving the character of someone who either stated that fact or something opposed to that fact.
I hope that clarifies things but let me know if it hasn’t.
Because in your article you stated “This is, of course, not a debate about whether or not abortion is right or wrong, though I am fine talking about that issue”
Anyway thanks for sharing, like I said, I don’t have an issue with investigating PPFA, just don’t throw out the “baby” with the bath water!
Hi again, Taylor. Like I said, this post was about facts about PPFA. Not even totally about whether to fund them or not, or even investigate them. The abortion issue is separate but I do take issue with it on a number of points. I don’t mean at all that we shouldn’t be compassionate about people in tough situations, but here is the thing. If someone thinks it is OK to kill a baby b/c they are in a tough situation, then I think it follows that we should allow the killing of toddlers for the same reason. Otherwise, we are saying that a baby in the womb (or out of the womb, as is the case with partial birth abortion) is of more value than one in the womb.
I don’t think that a human’s level of development, size, or environment, or dependence should determine the value of a life. For example, if a baby in the womb isn’t a baby, then it comes out of the womb….what is it if we were to push it back in?
I know this is all very difficult to talk about so I really do appreciate your comments. Let me know what you think about these points. Take care.
I see. Well, the comments went in that direction so that is where I went. I hope that makes sense.
PP doesn’t provide quality women health care but refers them to other sites that do. Their primary service is abortion. It is not a needed service. The local health departments can provide adequate care for those unable to afford their own physicians.
I contacted the office of a Senator this past week and asked about the need for PPFA for “healthcare” since supposedly everyone is supposed to have access now due to nationalized healthcare. The response I was given is that some women would prefer to visit PPFA instead of their PCP. I don’t think that is an adequate reason to pay for these services with taxpayer dollars. Thanks for commenting.
hmm MO. health department does NOT offer abortions. And FYI there is a copious amount of folks who still do not have health insurance
I think that Karen’s argument is that abortion is not a necessary procedure and that it is the taking of an innocent life. We were told that nationalized healthcare would cover everyone. So it is really terrible that that isn’t the case.
I am on medicare AND medicaid and they do not cover abortion, in fact, if it was up to Republican leadership, they wouldn’t pay for birth control pills either!
Well, I think it depends on what state you are in as to whether or not medicaid covers PPFA services; however, clearly there are states considering and/or revoking that due to the recent revelations of PPFA’s practices and apparent felonies. As for birth control coverage, inexpensive birth control is easily available over the counter. Personally, and I used to be in health insurance (even at a management level) for many years, and the idea of health insurance shouldn’t be to cover small expenses. It is supposed to cover large expenses. That is what all kinds of insurance are supposed to be.
Furthermore, this isn’t the issue here. I know the comments have gone in this direction, and I am happy to talk about them, but the issue is PPFA’s practices, not whether or not birth control or abortions should be covered at all. However, I personally think that covering the murder of a human shouldn’t be covered. If you disagree I am happy to discuss it with you.
One of the things I find most grievous, is how low their sanitation and safety standards are. There are more health regulations for tattoo parlors than PP. I in no way support abortion, as I believe those babies have every right to life. However, why would you go to a “medical facility” where the doctor doesn’t even have privileges at the closest hospital. Why would you have a surgical procedure without surgical sanitation standards? Anyone who says PP is supportive of the health of women is just kidding themselves. There are many studies that link abortions to cancer later in life among many other problems. So sad!
That’s a good point about the sanitation – but I haven’t looked into data on that. I have heard it. Do you have information on that? I have heard about the abortion and cancer link. It only makes sense – artificially cutting off the natural process of the human body and all that it tied to that. Thanks for commenting.
Thank you so much for being bold and courageous with sharing this. More of us need to do this.
Now a days it seems political correctness is trumping morality.
Blessings to you as you share this truth.
Thank you so much, Mikki. I knew there would be folks who didn’t appreciate it but I felt I should do it. Blessings to you as well.