In Arizona, Planned Parenthood dominates the abortion market but has experienced a substantial decrease in patients. Between 2007 and 2016 patient visits dropped at Planned Parenthood by more than 46 percent. This indicates that in Arizona, as across the nation, women are not choosing Planned Parenthood in the numbers they have in the past. Patient visits to Planned Parenthood of Arizona have plummeted from 61,722 in 2007 to just 33,181 in 2016, according to a media statement from Jodi Liggett, vice president of public affairs.
Planned Parenthood Arizona 2015 annual report abortions
Despite the falling numbers, an analysis from a local media outlet determined that about 17.27 percent of patients and 11 percent of all visits were for abortion services in Arizona. But, Data compiled by the Arizona Department of Health Services reveals that statewide, Planned Parenthood’s market share of abortion reached 53 percent in 2015. According to Planned Parenthood of Arizona’s 2015-2016 annual report, they committed 6,667 out of the 12,655 abortions performed in the state.
This does not come as a surprise. Live Action News has reported multiple times that in state after state, Planned Parenthood is garnering a larger and larger share of the abortion market while increasing government funding.
Nationally, Planned Parenthood’s patients, as well as services in areas such as contraception, Pap tests, cancer screenings, and breast exams, have all decreased while government funding and abortions continue to rise. Opponents of forced tax payer funding of Planned Parenthood say that this is a good reason to shift the over $540 million tax dollars which Congress has handed out to Planned Parenthood annually to more worthy places such as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC).
While Planned Parenthood operates just nine facilities across Arizona, there are 23 Rural Health Clinics in the state, and 21 Federally Qualified Health Centers provide services at 149 sites, offering more extensive health care services for women, according to the Rural Health Information Hub.
But, Planned Parenthood’s supporters argue that federal and state tax dollars should continue to flow to the abortion corporation because they are the only ones that can provide “contraception services.”
Not so fast.
An analysis conducted by Planned Parenthood’s former “special affiliate,” the Guttmacher Institute, compared Federally Qualified Health Center sites (FQHC) to Planned Parenthood centers in areas that offered publicly funded contraception care and found that in 2015:
- 3 of 15 counties in Arizona which had centers that provided publicly funded contraception care had at least one Planned Parenthood.
- 14 counties in Arizona had at least one FQHC site that provided contraception services.
- There were no Planned Parenthood centers located in 12 Arizona counties.
- Planned Parenthood served fewer contraception clients than FQHC sites in 2 of the 3 Arizona counties where they had a Planned Parenthood facility.
- Just over 5 percent (12 out 232) of publicly funded family planning centers in Arizona were operated by Planned Parenthood which served just 28 percent of contraception clients while FQHC sites served 37 percent.
And while Planned Parenthood’s patients have been decreasing over the years, patients visiting federal health centers in Arizona increased from 356,094 in 2008 to 500,940 in 2015.
Recently, Live Action documented the lack of care Planned Parenthood gives to pregnant women who want to keep their children. Live Action’s prenatal care video (watch below) featured comments from multiple Planned Parenthood employees stating they do NOT provide prenatal care, despite the organization’s CEO, Cecile Richards, misleading the public to believe that prenatal care is one of their most important services.
The Tempe, Arizona Planned Parenthood center is one of the centers Live Action called during the undercover investigation. When the caller asked to “make an appointment for prenatal care” the Planned Parenthood staffer responded:
We don’t have prenatal care here. Planned Parenthood offers abortions, so they don’t offer prenatal care.
Shortly after the release of the undercover video, Planned Parenthood began purging their websites of the term “prenatal.” Then, Live Action News, exposed biased Arizona media reporting on the topic. Arizona’s media, as well as national media outlets, have failed to call out or question Planned Parenthood, which masquerades as a “health center” so they can continue to receive half a billion in federal tax dollars a year and end the lives of 900 preborn children every day.
But, the truth is hard to suppress and it is reaching the ear of Congress and the ear of the American public. If the drop in patients is any indicator, Planned Parenthood’s continued dedication to abortion is starting to have a real impact on the organization.
It’s no wonder, with so many patients abandoning Planned Parenthood, that they fight so hard to keep those government dollars.
