Abortions Outpace Adoption 80-1 at Planned Parenthood

by Cybercast News Service

Washington, DC -- When it comes to pregnant women deciding between abortion and adoption, more than 98 percent of those women seeking counsel from Planned Parenthood Federation of America ended their pregnancies with abortion in 2000, according to data collected by the organization.

Meanwhile, the number of adoption referrals by PPFA fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2000, to fewer than 2,500.

During the same year, Planned Parenthood clinics around the country performed almost 200,000 abortions, according to statistics available on the organization's Internet website.

Stated another way, Planned Parenthood abortionists performed almost 80 abortions for every adoption referral the organization made in 2000, the data show.

According to Planned Parenthood, there were 9,200 adoption referrals in 1997, but that number had dropped to 2,486 by 2000.

"That's a whopping 73.5 percent decrease from what they were in 1997," said Ed Szymkowiak, spokesman for STOPP International. "During the same time period, Planned Parenthood's abortion procedures increased 19.3 percent."

According to the Planned Parenthood website, the organization performed 197,070 abortions in 2000, representing tens of millions of dollars annually for the group in a single year.

Officials with PPFA did not respond to repeated telephone calls seeking comment for this article, but a female CNSNews staffer who contacted one of the group's abortion clinics Tuesday was informed that the cost of an abortion starts at more than $300.

According to Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., the price of an abortion for a woman who's been pregnant for 12 weeks or less is $325. At 13 weeks, the price rises to $350, with still higher prices for women who are further along in their pregnancies.

Using an average cost of $350 for an abortion, PPFA would have taken in nearly $69 million for abortions in 2000.

From:  The Pro-Life Infonet <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Reply-To:  Steven Ertelt <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Subject:   Abortions Outpace Adoption 80-1 at Planned Parenthood
Source:   Cybercast News Service; May 8, 2002