According to Planned Parenthood’s annual report, recently released this week, the abortion business received $616,800,000 in what it calls “government health services grants and reimbursements.” No, that is not a typo, and yes those are your taxpayer dollars.

There is no reason why Planned Parenthood should be receiving that level of funding. No reason whatsoever. Here’s why: the abortion business isn’t helping as many patients as it used to justify this level of funding.

Planned Parenthood explains its federal funding this way: “Most of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding is from Medicaid reimbursements for preventative care, and some of it is from Title X (which Planned Parenthood lost earlier this year to the tune of $60 million). At least 60% of Planned Parenthood patients rely on public health programs like Medicaid and Title X for preventative and primary care. ‘Defund’ legislation immediately blocks these patients from care at Planned Parenthood centers.”

The way it describes the funding process is perplexing, especially the portions about preventative care since most of Planned Parenthood’s preventative care areas have taken a huge hit in the last 10 years. Since 2009, contraception services are down 36%, cancer screenings down 72%, prenatal services down 76%, primary care down 25% and well-woman exams are down by 6%. But funding is somehow up. 

If the federal funding is about “reimbursements for preventative care,” then shouldn’t these numbers be going up and not down? 

Despite the decrease in the number of preventative services being offered to patients, funding keeps going up and up and up. 

In 1992, Planned Parenthood’s “government health services grants and reimbursements” was only $145 million (inflation puts that number at $264.1 million). While that number did jump to $238.2 million the next year, it went back down a year later before steadily rising again. It wasn’t until Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, went into effect that Planned Parenthood’s federal funding jumped from $363.2 million to $487.4 million between 2009-2010 (a 34% increase).

It’s safe to assume that there were many pro-Planned Parenthood policies written into Obamacare, and the abortion business has certainly reaped the rewards. 

Since 2009, the abortion business has seen an additional 27% increase in federal funding but that doesn’t make much sense since the only thing that’s significantly increased are the number of abortions performed, which can’t be federally funded, and STD/I testing and servicing it offers and not much else in terms of preventative healthcare (see this Daily Citizen article for more). 

The loss of Title X funding will strip Planned Parenthood of $60 million, but it isn’t nearly enough. Even if you are pro-abortion or support the health aspect of Planned Parenthood, it makes no business sense for taxpayers to continue funding an organization that has essentially abandoned women’s health in pursuit of politics and lobbying. 

After all, Planned Parenthood still received $591.3 million in private donations last year, less than the $630.7 million it got the year before. But surely, the abortion business can offset the loss of any federal funding. Yet the organization refuses to do so. 

An interesting fact about Planned Parenthood is that the headquarters in New York City and the various affiliate offices around the country are surprisingly disconnected. So, if someone donates to “Planned Parenthood,” most likely that money will be kept by headquarters and go to things like lobbying, political campaigns and  starter projects like Roo, a so-called sexual health chatbot, not local healthcare facilities.

Women, especially those in low-income areas, need access to healthcare, but Planned Parenthood is not the answer. It’s inconceivable that the abortion business is still commanding hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for doing less and less every year to keep Americans healthy. Even accounting for inflation, Planned Parenthood received about $350 million more than it did in 1992, with fewer clinics, clients and services. 

The funding of Planned Parenthood should stop until something can be done to review how the money is being spent. U.S. taxpayers, and the men and women who rely on subsidized healthcare services, deserve better than Planned Parenthood’s shady business practices.