Investigative

As number of Planned Parenthood facilities drops, so do American abortion rates

No Planned ParenthoodKaren Hildebrand, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of West Texas, claimed that “we are gonna see an increase in abortion rates” upon the closing of a Planned Parenthood facility in Odessa, Texas.

This is one of the top pro-Planned Parenthood mantras: claiming that without them, abortion rates are going to jump up.  However, statistics and Planned Parenthood’s own numbers throughout the years prove otherwise.

In 1995, there were 938 operating Planned Parenthood clinics in the country.  That number is down to 785.  Another number down?  Annual number of abortions in America.

The number of annual abortions performed annually in America slowly but surely declined since 1990, when it peaked at 1.6 million abortions yearly.  That number is down to 1.2 million.  Planned Parenthood’s abortion rate, on the other hand, has increased annually since 1996, and only declined for the first time between 2009 and 2010, going down from 331,796 to 329,445.

A declining number of Planned Parenthood facilities has correlated with a declining number of annual abortions in America.  The only time those abortion numbers have increased is within the walls of their own clinics.

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  • Bannwalk14

    It’s finally good to see such a macabre horror finally coming to an end.

  • Oedipa

    Correlation does not imply causation. Damn. Where are the fancy pants logicians when there’s some fallacies to debunk? Dave M.? Mr. Sundaram?

    • Guest

      Interesting comment.  I hope you feel the same way about people that insist on equating abortion bans with high maternal mortality and deaths from unsafe abortions.

  • 12angry_men

    While the declining number of clinics certainly could be a cause, you can’t rule it as the sole or main factor into the declining number of abortions (you should take a statistics class if you haven’t, it’s fascinating). One cause that I can think of off the top of my head is the increased availability of contraceptives, and an increase in sexual education. I don’t know if those two things are the sole cause either, all I’m saying is to not jump to conclusions too quickly with statistics as their often a lot trickier than they appear.

    • Oldmanbob

      You make a good point about numbers and how to look at them.  Nonetheless, fewer PP sites mean less teaching by PP.  What are they teaching?  When you have sex do this and this, never is there any mention of saying no or waiting till marriage, or you are worth more then a quick lay.  Our local PCC outreachers report that often girls say that then never had been told that they could say no.  Let that sink in.

      • Letscook1

        Married people still practice birth control. Most wives have no desire to be the next Michelle Duggar.

        • Oldmanbob

          True, and birth control will reduce the number of unexpected babies.  Suprise babies are often a real blessing and are much loved coming into a family held together with love.  Rubbers and sadly the pills are cheap and easy to come by and are most often used as they are ment to be by adults and married folks. 

          Teens, espically young teens, are often in a hurry, don’t know what they are doing don’t want to get caught, scared, etc.and have been told by PP and others that sex has to happen.  This is just what PP wants.  More sex means more babies to kill for cash.

          Bottom line:  When you have sex you may be starting a baby.  If you don’t want to take that chance don’t have sex.

          • Realist

             ”[They] have been told by PP and others that sex has to happen.”

            That is completely and utterly false. No Planned Parenthood clinic has ever given the message that teenagers have to have sex. It’s true that a lot of teens feel pressured to do it, but that has more to do with media than anything that has come from Planned Parenthood. There’s a difference between wanting people to have sex and wanting people who choose to have sex to be well informed.

          • Didaskalos

            Planned Parenthood is still laboring earnestly to surfeit kids with nonstop entreaties to have sex, with whomever and whenever, preferably as often as possible.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7XR9yH2ETk —  Hooking Kids on Sex [  "This report exposes Planned Parenthood's sex-education programs, using images from Planned Parenthood's own websites, social networks, and events."]

          • Oedipa

             Mmmmmmm … vagina macaroons.

          • prochoice

             This is so absurd. Planned Parenthood’s entire mission is to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

          • GuBEE

            That’s what I’d call “Failure”.

          • Letscook1

            How do you explain that the teen pregnancy rate is the lowest it has ever been in the 70 years of records by the CDC? 

          • Guest

            I hate to sound cynical, but it’s probably because teenagers are substituting other sexual activities for penis-vagina intercourse.  Meanwhile, STD rates are skyrocketing.  I’ll leave it to you to decide how much “credit” Planned Parenthood deserves for each of these things.

            Also, your teen pregnancy rate still isn’t exactly something to be proud of, compared to other developed countries.

  • Wade Felty

    Hope you don’t have a dangerous pregnancy Jennie!

    • http://twitter.com/Jennie_Stone Jennie Stone

      I hope not either, but I would give my life for my child before ever having him or her ripped to pieces within me.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nick-Ponzio/1037665506 Nick Ponzio

    Planned parenthood seeks to serve its own purpose.  if women choose life then planned parenthood is useless.  if planned parenthood can convince women to kill their babies then they have a reason to exist.   No wonder they are so convincing, they need their salaries.  If doing so means the destruction of unborn babies then they believe thats OK!

  • Shitler2

    Ok, some of these comments are so one.sided, ive had an abortion and it was the best thing to do at the time, you have to pay for a class before you can get the procedure done, they dont promote abortion, they go through all of your options to make sure you know there are other options, telling you about different financial aids, daycares, and suggest even adoption, I personally like seeing my my own doctor but some people need planned parenthood for contraceptive, just because there was a decrease in abortions when some pp facilities dropped, doesnt mean planned parenthood promotes abortion…
    I

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nancy-Reisiger-Rice/100001095785143 Nancy Reisiger Rice

      Bull Shitler!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Janet-Muldoon/1091744344 Bill Janet Muldoon

    This does not surprise me one bit.  If abortions are not readily available, people will be forced to take greater responsibility for their behavior to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

    Although I never supported Roe versus Wade and Planned Parenthood, I do not believe legalized abortion was never intended to be a form of birth control for great profit for those involved.  This is a national travesty.  This and the development of the birth control pill proved to be one of America’s greatest medical, pharmaceutical and social failures. 

     As a taxpayer I am totally opposed to financially supporting this road to “loose as a goose” lifestyle that is so prevalent today.  When you consider the cost, including all the negative side effects that we have witnessed over a span of over 40 years, one has to conclude that “Sexual Revolution” destroyed the once Holy Estate of Marriage and the American Family as we once knew it.  Many of the so called enlightened “Baby Boomer Generation” were almost overnight enslaved to a lifestyle that would eventually destroyed the family structure we once considered best for the growth and development of children.  This is best revealed by the fact that over half of all marriages fail and the in response to that alternative partnerships are occuring that defy the values of the past. 
    Janet Y Muldoon,
    retired RN and former Minnesota Public Health and School Nurse 

  • Guest

    Check out this article:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_parenthood#Abortion

    According to its own numbers (which very likely under-report abortions performed), Planned Parenthood performs more abortions than they supposedly prevent.

  • Bijoybalan

    I always thought you should know your facts before you talk. This article showed that should not be the case all the time. Thanks Jennie for showing me that never let facts get in the way of a good put down.

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