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Saturday, February 12, 2005

From Planned Parenthood's 2003–2004 Annual Report:
[UPDATES, below]

Services/Products....................2002.....2003...% Change...Ref'd out '02...Ref'd out '03
Reversible Contracep., Women...2,208,332...2,257,154...2.2%
Emergency Contraception Kits....633,756....774,482...22.2%
Tubal Sterilization......................680......744.....9.4%..........1,815.........2,023
Reversible Contrac., Men.........60,476....65,961.....9.1%
Vasectomies..........................2,522.....2,576......2.1%...........773...........545
Abortion Procedures.............230,630...244,628...6.1%
HIV Testing, Women.............138,494...155,273...12.1%
HIV Testing, Men...................48,991....52,309....6.8%
Prenatal Clients...................15,860.....16,427....3.6%
Infertility Clients.....................325........465....43.1%
Colposcopy Procedures............31,248...37,423...19.8%
LOOP/LEEP Procedures.............1,781....2,029...13.9%
Cryotherapy Procedures...........3,913....4,544....16.1%
Midlife Clients.....................10,575.....11,232....6.2%
Pregnancy Tests...............1,081,772....904,201...(16.4)%
Breast Exams..................1,062,727....921,451...(13.3)%....12,299........14,241
Adoption Refers-Other Agencies...XX......XX........XX............1,963.........1,774 (9.6%)
Primary Care Clients...............24,483...32,216...31.6%
STI Proced'-Women/Men...1,255,036...2,452,930...95.4%
Other Services, Women...........58,626...36,984...(36.9)%
Other Services, Men...............17,905...69,012...285.4%
Total.............................6,878,078...7,961,514...15.8 %
Total Unduplicated Clients.....2,757,294...2,811,885...2.0%
Some random observations and questions:

Add abortions, prenatal care and adoption referrals to get the number of pregnancies all of Planned Parenthood’s affiliates saw in 2003: 262,829.

“Clinic revenue” was $306.2 Million. Total revenue was $810 Million. Profits were $35.2 Million. They got more money ($456.2 Million) from taxpayer dollars ($265.2 Million) and private charitable contributions ($191 Million) than they took in in clinic revenue.

Abortions went UP 6.1%, and represented 93% of all pregnancies seen. We don’t know how much the average charge per abortion is, but assuming it was $400, that’s $97,851,200 from abortions, or about 32% of clinic revenue. Please correct me if I’m off on that per abortion charge.

Depending on how many of those women actually were pregnant after risky sexual intercourse, even more embryos died when the women got those Morning After Pill Kits. If even 10% were pregnant (and why does one feel the need to take the MAP unless concerned about this?), that’s another 77,448 early, chemical abortions.

Yet pregnancy testing went DOWN 16.4%? Maybe people just forewent the pregnancy test and got the MAP instead? Looks probable. Wonder what the cost of each "service" is? Anyone?

HIV Testing for women went UP 12.1%; for men, UP 6.8%.
Reversible Contraception for women (birth control, shots, patch, ring, implants, IUD, etc.) went UP 2.2% and for men, UP 9.1% (condoms, etc.). Morning After Pill Kits went UP 22.2%.

Yet “STI Procedures, Women and Men”, meaning treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, almost DOUBLED, going UP 95.4%. From about 1.2 million people treated to 2.4 million in one year.

Shouldn’t that one have gone DOWN, by maybe something in the range of 2.2% and 9.1%, if reversible contraception is so good at preventing STDs? Perhaps it’s correlation time.

And 37,423 coloposcopies were done, UP 19.8%. That’s what is done to determine the cause of abnormalities in our cervices that were found in Pap smears. LEEP/LOOP is a surgical procedure to treat Human papillomavirus (HPV) genital warts (precancerous cells) and Cervical cancer on an outpatient (in the clinic) basis. Treatments went UP 13.9%. Cryotherapy treats Cervical Dysplasia, which are precancerous changes to the cervix, which don’t always become cancerous but should be treated or else they will. Those treatments went UP 16.1%.

Is it that more women are following up and having these procedures done, or is it that there are more incidences of cervical abnormalities and cancers?

And for those arguing that adoption referrals are a staple of Planned Parenthood’s services, adoption referrals went DOWN (again for the sixth or seventh year in a row) 9.6%, and were a mere 0.67% of all pregnancies seen.

Interesting that breast exams also went DOWN 13.3%, and that “Other Services” (whatever those are) for women went DOWN 36.9% but for men, they went UP 285.4%.

It’s impossible to tell how many clients are women vs. men. A rough addition might indicate 2.49 million women clients.

Knowing all this data, it seems fair to say that “most women go to Planned Parenthood for healthcare,” if only 244,628 of maybe 2.49 million women clients got abortions from them that year.

It’s also fair to say, though, that they’ll go back to PP for their abortions and abortifacient MAPs. It’s a time-tested business model: massive numbers of “repeat customers.” Offer reproductive health care services, relatively cheaply, and they’ll come back for the more expensive offerings too.

In the business world, it’s called “offering low-cost product lead-ins,” “qualified lead management” and “building the brand:” “developing a brand's image and standing with a view to creating long term benefits for brand awareness and brand value.”

Despite the non-profit status, they still are part of a $1.3 BILLION industry. They still make $35 Million profit a year.

Anyone know what a month’s birth control pillpack costs at Planned Parenthood? Or a pregnancy test, or an STI/HIV test, or “Reversible Contraception for Men” (i.e., condoms)?

Without knowing prices for the MAPs, birth control, etc., it’s hard to tell which offering brings in the most money. I’d imagine a vasectomy or tubal sterilization could cost as much as an abortion, maybe more.

Even if only 32% of clinic revenue comes from their abortion services, that is still 93% of all pregnancies seen.

And probably the most fascinating statistical juxtaposition of all: PP delivered 3,097,597 ways of preventing pregnancies in 2003 (birth control, EC, reversibles for men and women), yet also delivered 6.1% MORE abortions and did 9.6% FEWER adoption referrals than the year before.

So much for easy, cheap access to contraception reducing unwanted pregnancies.

UDPATES:
Our friend, Funky Dung, put the above into a table, here. Thanks! Also noting that, "I found a discrepancy in how many clients they report vs. how many you get by adding up the numbers they give. In 2002, [Planned Parenthood] overreported by at least 22,087 clients and in 2003, they underreported by at least 80,527 clients. Those numbers change based on whether or not you include referrals in the totals." I wonder why that happened?

Also, commenters supplied the following info:

"When I was a client of Planned Parenthood in NYC back in 2003, the cost of birth control was $25 per month. But for me and most of the women and girls,... the price was less or given gratis because of the lack of health insurance."

" I can tell you with 100% certainty that an abortion in OKC up to 8 weeks is $400 after. 8-24 weeks is $1200."


I found this information from the CDC itself about how many abortions are done by 8 weeks vs. after 8 weeks, to use this to estimate the actual revenue from abortions at PP.

CDC Abortion Surveillance -- United States, 1999, November 29, 2002 / 51(SS09);1-28:
"From 1992 (when these data were first collected) through 1999, increases have occurred in the percentage of abortions performed at <6 weeks of gestation. Few abortions were provided after 15 weeks of gestation; 4.3% were obtained at 16--20 weeks and 1.5% were obtained at >21 weeks.”
So before 1999, there is no report, even though the CDC supposedly was collecting this data from 1992 on. All we really know is that there were more abortions done at <6 weeks between ’92 and ’99 than in '99. That second sentence above refers only to the data in the 1999 table (Table 6).
"In 1999, for women whose weeks of gestation at the time of abortion were adequately reported, 57% of reported legal induced abortions were known to have been obtained at <8 weeks of gestation, and 87% were reported at <13 weeks (Table 6). Overall, 22% of abortions were performed at <6 weeks of gestation, 17% at 7 weeks, and 18% at 8 weeks (Table 7). [Ed. Note: My emphasis] Few reported abortions were provided after 15 weeks of gestation; 4.3% were known to have been obtained at 16--20 weeks, and 1.5% at >21 weeks.
In 1999, then, 57% of all surgical abortions were done during or before the eighth week (378,174 abortions of 663,472 abortions counted (reported legal abortions from 41 states, D.C. and NYC but not NY State). A total of 43.1% or 285,956 abortions, were done from 9 weeks or later in that year alone.

Our commenter from Oklahoma City said PP’s costs were as follows: “up to 8 weeks is $400, after 8-24 weeks is $1200.”

If it’s “up to but not including 8 weeks” then it’s 39% of all abortions at $400, and 61% at 8 weeks and above, at $1,200 each.

If it’s “up to and including 8 weeks, then it’s 57% of all abortions at $400 each, and 43% after 8 weeks at $1,200 each.

However, the report then goes on to say, "Surveillance data from CDC and other investigators indicate that >50% of all U.S. abortions are performed at <8 weeks of gestation..."

Is that an average of what everyone found? It doesn’t say. Since they didn’t say “>51%” or “>56%,” it’s fair to say the best number encompassing all investigators’ findings is about 51% of all U.S. abortions occurring at <8 weeks, while the CDC’s own report says it’s only 39% at <8 weeks.

Using the OKC numbers, then Planned Parenthood likely did between 95,405 and 124,760 abortions at under 8 weeks (39% or 51% of 244,628 abortions) at $400 each, or between $38,161,960.00 and $49,904,000.00, plus they did between another 119,867 and 149,223 abortions at 8 or more weeks (49% or 61% of 244,628) at $1,200 each, or between $143,840,400.00 and $179,067,600.00 total for those.

So Planned Parenthood probably brought in AT LEAST between $193,744,400.00 and $217,229,560.00 just from abortions alone, out of $306.2 Million in clinic revenue. Abortions represented between 63.3% and 71% of their clinic revenue in 2003-04, and probably much, much more.

Why much, much more? Two reasons:
1) Who knows if they charge more in higher-cost-of-living areas like the Northeast or California?

2) Those CDC numbers did not include the States of New York, California or Massachusetts, three of the largest “consumers” of abortion, nor 6 other states. According to Planned Parenthood’s own Guttmacher Institute, Massachusetts outdid the national abortion rate from 1991 through 1999, California massively beat the national rate from 1991 through 2000 (by 10-20 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44), and New York State as of 2000 still was outdistancing the national rate by at least 20 abortions per 1,000 women and like California, showing no signs of diminishing.

If I had time to figure which states were the other ones not reporting, I’d really be able to nail this all down. Feel free to follow through on that with this “State Trends” PDF or Powerpoint documents list, here or this “state facts map” here, if anyone’s so inclined.

I must conclude by saying I do take most if not all of what AGI publishes with a shaker of salt, but for the sake of argument and fairness, I used the CDC and AGI as starting points. Certainly neither of them could be accused of being “pro-life” or “religious” sources.

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