THE RYAN REPORT

Planned Parenthood's abortions and profits increase

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) has just released its 2002-2003 Annual Report. The report shows that PPFA continues its agenda to kill more babies—227,375 in 2002—and make huge profits—$36.6 million—in its last fiscal year. These numbers mean that PPFA did 6.7% more abortions last year than the previous year and increased its profits by a disgraceful 300%. Over the past several years, at a time when total U.S. abortions have been decreasing, Planned Parenthood abortions have been increasing.

"The hypocritical nature of Planned Parenthood must be obvious to everyone by now,” said Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League’s STOPP International project. “PP keeps claiming that it seeks to reduce abortion, but its abortion numbers are skyrocketing—over 3 million in its own facilities since 1970. When PP opened its abortion facility in Bryan Texas, the health department reports show abortions jumped a whopping 153%. The evidence is clear: More Planned Parenthood facilities means more abortions.”

“In 2002, Planned Parenthood did 115 abortions for every adoption referral to an outside agency and 14 abortions for each prenatal care client,” said Ed Szymkowiak, national director of STOPP. “It is amazing that PP can even think people will believe their organization is not a pro-abortion.”

In addition to its escalating abortion numbers, Planned Parenthood had a record income of $766.6 million, and the money PP received from the American taxpayer reached an all-time high of $254.4 million. Some selected numbers from PPFA’s Annual Report are as follows (the numbers in parenthesis are the numbers from last year’s report; they are included for comparison):

INCOME: Total – $766.6 million ($692.5 million); Clinic Operation – $288.2 million ($254.8 million); Taxpayer money – $254.4 million ($240.9 million); Donations – $228.1 million ($190.9 million); Profit – $36.6 million ($12.2 million).

SERVICES: Surgical abortions – 227,375 (213,026); Emergency Contraception – 633,756 (469,578); Prenatal care – 15,860 (15,618); Adoption referrals to other agencies – 1,963 (1,951).

Early in 2004, STOPP International will release a complete, detailed analysis of Planned Parenthood’s operations based on its 2002-2003 Annual Report, plus the historical records maintained by STOPP in a special issue of the Ryan Report. Until that time, both Jim Sedlak and Ed Szymkowiak are available to talk about the latest numbers and their implications.

Planned Parenthood reissues anti-Christian holiday card

Last year, Planned Parenthood mocked the Christian faith during the 2002 Christmas season by issuing a holiday card with the message, "Choice on Earth." This is an obvious distortion of the traditional Christmas greeting, "Peace on Earth," which refers to the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Since "choice" is a Planned Parenthood euphemism for abortion, the Planned Parenthood card was essentially promoting abortion on earth while simultaneously exploiting the Christmas season to sell merchandise. These cards enraged Christians across America and were the subject of several national news articles. STOPP reported extensively on this matter in a series of three Ryan Reports. See November 2002, December 3, 2002 and December 28, 2002.

Despite the offense Christians took with the card, or perhaps because of it, Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced on December 1, 2003 that it was releasing another "Choice on Earth" card this holiday season. Its press release included the following.

Last year, the card came under fire from a number of anti-choice groups and was protested nationwide on Web sites, on radio shows, and in newspaper columns. Focus on the Family called it "outrageous and deeply offensive." The Family Research Council called the pro-choice holiday greeting "just plain sick," while U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) said it was "sacrilegious." Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America brayed, "If Planned Parenthood had existed 2,000 years ago, it would have targeted Mary, an unwed, pregnant teenager, for a profitable abortion."

In response to this ridiculous onslaught of anti-choice pique, the public rallied around the card, buying up all of the original stock and asking for an increase in production. Ultimately, Planned Parenthood sold 25 percent more cards than in previous years, as well as thousands of "Choice on Earth" T-shirts created for the occasion. Proceeds from these sales help PPFA make choice on earth more of a reality than ever before. This year we hope "Choice on Earth" will be an even greater success.

PPFA president Gloria Feldt said she was "proud" of the Planned Parenthood card. Should this not surprise anyone, since it comes from a woman who heads an organization that has killed 227,375 innocent babies in one year by "choice" on earth? Ask your state and federal representatives today to de-fund this despicable group immediately, so that it may not use your tax dollars to promote its evil agenda.

PP praises court's contraceptive decision against Catholic Church

On December 1, 2003, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) applauded the decision made that day by the New York State Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Catholic Charities of Albany. The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the Women's Health and Wellness Act. The law went into effect January 1, 2003, but was challenged by Catholic Charities of Albany and nine other employers that did not want to provide this insurance coverage to their employees. Dennis Poust, a spokesperson for the New York State Catholic Conference, said that it would appeal the decision.

Contraception coverage laws indicate that IF an employer provides a prescription drug plan, then that plan must include contraception coverage. See U.S. bill S.1396 section 714 for such a conditional clause in a proposed federal version of this law. California already has a similar law in effect, which is also being challenged by the Church. The wording of section 2 of the California Law has the same “if” effect. The Church has the option, therefore, should the California and New York laws be upheld in court, of simply dropping all prescription drug coverage. In various other states, there is a conscience exemption that would make such a drastic action unnecessary. But in states such as New York and California, the conscience exemption is not comprehensive. An October 2, 2002 report by the New York State Catholic Conference indicated that dropping all coverage is an option in New York.

Thus, the New York and California laws would not force the Church to pay for contraception, but they will, if upheld, force the loss of prescription drug benefits to all employees of many Catholic entities since the Catholic Church cannot violate its own teachings regarding the evil of contraception. Planned Parenthood and others are leading the media and legislators to think women who work for the Church will receive their contraception paid for by Church-provided prescription drug plans. The other possible outcome, which PP does not dwell upon, is that its efforts will result in no prescription drug plan at all for these women and other Church employees and their families.

Obviously, bishops should be against any contraception coverage law, regardless of whether or not there is an exemption for the Catholic Church. But when the situation has deteriorated to the point where a state legislature is debating passing a law without a broad enough conscience clause, then bishops should make it clear that the Church will never cover contraception. Instead, in such situations legislators should be told: “Your vote for this law will not provide contraception for our employees. Instead, you will effectively deprive thousands of our employees and their families of all prescription drug coverage.”

Unfortunately, many of the employees of Catholic Charities, Catholic hospitals, and Catholic schools could care less if the Church is forced by the state to subsidize contraceptives. Sadly, some such employees might even welcome such a situation. But if bishops made it absolutely clear that the Church would rather cancel all prescription drug plans than cover contraception, then you might hear an outcry of protest from employees and unions to legislators contemplating such laws.

In its December 1, 2003 press release, PPFA president Gloria Feldt said, "Today's ruling makes clear that all women in New York should have access to insurance coverage for contraceptives—regardless of who they work for." She added, "This is a tremendous victory for the women of New York State who can now get the preventive health care they need and deserve."

Are these New York State women Feldt speaks about, who work in Catholic charities, schools, hospitals, etc., going to feel that the ruling was a victory if it forces the Church in New York to cancel its entire prescription drug plan? Planned Parenthood is so hell-bent on its contraceptive agenda that it apparently would rather have certain Church employees lose all prescription drug benefits, rather than allow said employees to have a plan that excludes contraception.

STOPP December 2003 Texas Tour

During the first week of December, American Life League’s Vice President and STOPP founder, Jim Sedlak, held a series of meetings and talks in central and southeast Texas. This is a short recount of some of the highlights of that tour:

Monday, December 1 – DALLAS. Jim had an all-afternoon session with four pro-life leaders (Karen Garnett, Patty Sherrod, Fonda Lash and Jim Walker) in the Dallas area, discussing the details of the fight against Planned Parenthood. Jim pointed out how the effort against PP is more than the fight against a typical abortionist. People will join the fight against PP for any or all of three specific reasons:

1. Abortion – The fact that PP is the number one abortionist in the country and kills over 4,000 babies a week in its own facilities, makes PP a natural focus of those who want to put an end to the slaughter of the innocent.

2. Parents’ rights – The fact that PP aggressively comes between parents and their children, to the point of having “code names” at its facilities and hiring teen girls to recruit their friends, brings a number of people into the struggle against PP. While these people may not join because of abortion, and might even consider themselves “pro-choice,” they will fight PP to protect their children.

3. Taxpayer funding – The final category is not necessarily made up by those who are motivated by either of the first two reasons, but by people who become extremely upset when they realize PP gets over 30% of its income from the American taxpayer. When these people learn that PP received $254.4 million in taxpayer funds last year, they are ready to cut off funding to PP.

Tuesday, December 2 – DALLAS and AUSTIN. Jim had an additional meeting in the Dallas area with nearly a dozen activists from Dallas and Waco. They spent time discussing the latest PP information. Jim told them about PP’s “Oregon Team Report,” in which Planned Parenthood specifically states that its real goal is to get society to accept that sex among young people is not only normal and natural, but has positive effects on the young people maturing into sexually responsible adults.

Most of this session was spent discussing specific actions that people can take when fighting Planned Parenthood. It was a very successful meeting, and many left with a renewed vigor to expand the fight against PP in both Dallas and Waco.

Tuesday evening, Jim was in Austin speaking to a rally of almost 400 people celebrating the recent victories against PP in Austin. David Bereit, of the Coalition For Life, organized the rally. It was held in the same ballroom Jim spoke in three years ago, when he was the featured speaker at another pro-life banquet. The atmosphere was electric and the audience celebrated for two hours into the night. Nevertheless, a group of rowdies who revealed their presence by banding together and burping loudly during the opening prayer (yes, they actually did that). Then, as Jim spoke, they began disturbances in the audience. Hotel security was called, but one person jumped up onto the stage with Jim, shouting about pro-lifers trying to impose their religion on society. He was led off stage by a couple of audience members, and the program went forward.

Jim’s talk concentrated on exposing the three basic philosophies of Planned Parenthood: Uninhibited Sex; Eugenics; Small Families/Birth Control. Jim demonstrated how these philosophies have been in Planned Parenthood since its beginning, carried forward by the likes of Margaret Sanger, Lothrop Stoddard, Dr. Leena Levine and Dr. Mary Calderone. Jim showed how these plans are reflected in modern documents such as PP’s Vision 2025 and the Oregon Team Report.

The highlight of the evening was a talk by Chris Danze, the Austin cement contractor who led a successful contractors’ boycott against PP that has led to the complete cessation of work at the site of a proposed new PP abortion facility. Chris gave special thanks to “two special women”: the Blessed Mother, who intercedes for us all, and his wife Sheri.

Chris said the boycott began when he sent letters to 25 Austin-area concrete suppliers and contractors, informing them of the nature of Planned Parenthood’s project and asking them not to participate. Not only did he get positive responses, but several of the letter recipients quickly called Chris and told him they would help get other contractors involved. Some of these men were in the audience, and Chris thanked them for helping to launch what has become the most successful boycott of a Planned Parenthood abortuary ever.

The night ended with a rousing presentation by David Bereit, head of the Coalition for Life in Bryan, Texas. David’s inspirational talk was titled “It’s Necessary, It’s Possible, It’s You, It’s Hard, It’s Worth It, and It’s Time.” David talked about the many successes against PP in Texas, including removing PP from the library system in Waco, closing 15 of its facilities in the Panhandle, and bringing incredible attention to the fight in Austin. Here are some snippets covering pro-lifers’ success in Austin:

• The $6.2 million Planned Parenthood abortion clinic construction project in Austin is still halted, even though Planned Parenthood executives arrogantly proclaimed that construction would resume within two weeks after it halted. It didn't.
• Gloria Feldt, national president over Planned Parenthood, lashed out with an "URGENT ALERT Immediate Mobilization Request" e-mail to 80,000 abortion advocates around the country to personally attack Chris Danze in an effort to rally support for the abortion chain's Texas operations.
• Planned Parenthood supporters began distributing personal information about Chris Danze and David Bereit (Executive Director of the Coalition for Life) via websites and e-mails, encouraging abortion advocates to harass the pro-lifers at home.
• On the Saturday prior to the rally, Austin abortion advocates staged a small, one-hour protest outside the home of Chris and Sheri Danze, shouting at the couple's neighbors. The protest was poorly attended, and the Danzes were out of town at the time.
• The Coalition for Life booked the three "Rally for Life" events in Austin, College Station, and Houston to mobilize abortion opponents across Texas. More than 25 Pro-Life groups across the state joined with the Coalition for Life as partnering organizations for these advocacy events.
• "All Things Considered," on National Public Radio, ran a feature story about the Texas abortion battle and interviewed Chris Danze and Jim Sedlak, both speakers at the upcoming Rally for Life events. Read transcript or listen to audio.
• The Washington Post featured the Austin battle in its Sunday edition, interviewing Danze and Sedlak.
• World magazine published a feature story about the boycott and the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood.
• The Los Angeles Times flew a reporter to Austin to cover the rally there, and the story was featured in the paper's Sunday edition.
• Terry Lowry (of Houston's 1070 The Word KKHT) featured a series of extensive interviews with Chris Danze on Tuesday, Jim Sedlak on Wednesday, and both Rev. Sonny Foraker (Director of Greater Houston Pastors for Life) and Helen Posvar (President of the Houston Coalition for Life) on Thursday.
• National news outlets were calling the Coalition for Life office all day to learn more about the Rally for Life events.

Wednesday, December 3 – HUNTSVILLE and COLLEGE STATION. On Wednesday morning, Jim traveled to Huntsville, Texas, where a group of dedicated members of the Walker County Coalition For Life, led by Leasha Scheel, has been causing problems for Planned Parenthood. This group demonstrates in front of the PP facility two to three times a week. Jim was honored to join about a dozen of their members to picket and pray for an hour. After the picket, an over-flow crowd of almost three dozen people gathered in a meeting room at a local restaurant to hear Jim give the latest news about PP.

The Planned Parenthood in Huntsville does not do surgical abortions itself, but is part of the facilities run by Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas. PPHSET does surgical abortions at its facilities in College Station and Houston. The Huntsville office, located just off the campus of Sam Houston State University, refers girls to these two places for abortions. Jim was happy to tell the crowd that, for the first time in recent years, PPHSET had done fewer abortions this year than last. “107 less babies died this year,” said Jim, “and you can be sure at least two or three of the babies that were saved would have come from Huntsville—except you were there for them.” Jim gave a 45-minute talk, and then the audience enjoyed some lunch. Meanwhile, Sedlak went to Houston to speak on a radio show promoting the rally in Houston the following evening.

Wednesday evening, Jim spoke at the “Rally for Life” in College Station. This was basically a repeat of the Austin rally – with Jim, Chris Danze and David Bereit as the main speakers. One of the night’s surprises came when Dot Snyder spoke. Dot, it turns out, was a former member of the Board of Directors of the Planned Parenthood facility in Waco, Texas. She apologized to the crowd for not knowing more about PP when she was asked to serve, but told us that she immediately left the board when PP started a serious discussion about doing abortions at its facility. She encouraged the audience to work to close down the local Planned Parenthood facility, noting that she is contributing to efforts to close down the Planned Parenthood office in Waco. Dot had private conversations with Jim after the talk, and we will bring you more insight from “inside the PP Board meetings” in future Ryan Reports.

Thursday, December 4 – HOUSTON. The week wound up with a “Rally For Life” in Houston. Once again, this was similar to the previous two nights’ events. The main difference at the Houston rally was Chris Danze’s talk. After spending the first two nights talking about the organization of the boycott and some “war stories” of how the effort was waged, on Thursday night Chris got into the real meat of the effort.

After Chris took the stage and thanked the Blessed Mother and Sheri for the contractors’ success, he announced that he had a secret weapon for defeating Planned Parenthood. He then held it up for everyone to see—rosary beads! Chris explained that the fight against Planned Parenthood is a religious fight. He emphasized how praying the rosary helped win boycott victories in Austin. His talk was truly inspirational and served as a fantastic culmination of the week’s activities.

• Boycott Planned Parenthood
• World Net Daily
• News 8 Austin
• Los Angeles Times

Pampa, Texas Planned Parenthood closes

The faithful prayers of Texas Panhandle pro-lifers have been answered yet again as another Planned Parenthood facility closed it doors in November 2003. Planned Parenthood of Amarillo and the Texas (PPATP) Panhandle closed its Pampa, Texas facility, citing lack of funding and rising costs. A decade ago, PPATP operated 19 clinics, but now only operates a total of four—in Amarillo, Borger, Dumas and Tulia.

"We're basically in survival mode here," said Claudia Stravato, executive director of PPATP. "Nobody wants to close clinics and cut services, but we can only do so much with so little." The problem, Stravato indicated, is that Planned Parenthood's funding has been tied up in abortion politics for nearly 20 years. Funding for Planned Parenthood is opposed regularly by politicians who disagree with PP's stance on abortion or its practice of keeping procedures confidential for underage girls.

The rash of closings in this region has come about since Bishop John Yanta was installed as bishop in 1997. STOPP published an extensive story on many of the closings in the June/July 2001 issue of the Ryan Report and in an update in the November 2001 issue. A statement opposing Planned Parenthood from Bishop Yanta is posted, with those of other bishops, on STOPP’s website. In the October 2003 Ryan Report, we reported, based upon information STOPP received from a local pro-life source, that the Tulia, Texas, facility had shut down. Although the Tulia office is expected to close soon, Planned Parenthood told STOPP in December that this office was still open, but now only on Fridays.

Planned Parenthood closes three facilities in Indiana

Planned Parenthood of Greater Indiana (PPGI) announced that it would close its Martinsville, New Castle, and Salem facilities by mid-December, citing rising costs and declining demand as causes. These clinics have lost $135,000 in the past 22 months, according to a report in the November 28, 2003 Indy Star. The closings come as great news for which pro-lifers should be thanking God.

No surgical abortions were performed at these three facilities. PPGI will continue to operate 35 other facilities in the state, including ones in Indianapolis, Bloomington and Merrillville, where post-implantation abortion procedures are provided. PPGI absorbed most of the other Indiana Planned Parenthood affiliates in a series of mergers in 1999 and 2000. The only other Indiana Planned Parenthood affiliate is now Planned Parenthood of North Central Indiana with 7 locations.

PPGI spokeswoman Theresa Browning said PPGI has been notifying agencies that might refer people to Planned Parenthood about the closings. PPGI also began a program recently that sends birth control pills to clients through the mail, which cuts down on office visits. "We believe this change is going to be a better investment of our resources," she said, "and will be able to give the clients what they want and need."

Guidestar.com, which receives its information from PP’s own downloadable IRS form 990’s, reports that, for the fiscal year ending in 2001, PPGI incurred a revenue of $13,932,371 and expenses of $14,012,597. This resulted in a total PPGI loss of $80,226. The revenue that year included $1,311,671 in government grants. Total assets fell $228,209 from 1/1/01 to 12/31/01 to a total of $6,553,239. Liabilities were $1,553,993.

London, Ohio Planned Parenthood closes

Pro-lifers in the London, Ohio region are getting a Christmas present in the form of a December 24 closing of the Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio (PPCO) facility, which has spread its evil in that town for 25 years. Praise God! PPCO cited rising health care costs and a decline in state government funding as the reasons.

The PPCO facility had a yearly average of about 120-130 clients during the past two years. PPCO is trying to shift these clients to its 1511 W. Broad St. location in Columbus at the Franklington shopping center, which is 25 miles away from the London facility. To help these clients with the transition to the new location, PPCO is offering $10 gas cards to help cover transportation costs. STOPP urges all pro-lifers in the region to greet these displaced clients with peaceful and prayerful picketing.

Mark Lally, Legislative Counsel for Ohio Right to Life said, "Contrary to Planned Parenthood's assertion that there has been a reduction in state support for family planning, the Ohio legislature made the same money available for similar services, but gave a priority for receiving the funds to local departments of health, rather than to federal Title X grantees, like Planned Parenthood." He said it was interesting that PPCO is closing a facility because of a loss of a $63,317 family planning grant, considering that its 2001 IRS Form 990 showed that it had $3,063,177 in cash and investments and only $247,173 in liabilities.

Christmas greetings from ALL’s STOPP International

The staff of American Life League’s STOPP International wishes all Ryan Report readers and their families a blessed Christmas and a holy New Year. Certainly, the news above about Planned Parenthood’s increased abortions and profits and Christian-mocking holiday cards is distressing, but we should not lose hope. We should thank God for the five Planned Parenthood facilities that closed its doors in just the last month, encouraging us to renew our efforts to help close even more in 2004!

The Planned Parenthood facilities that are closing have cited decreased funding as a main factor for their demise. All readers should contact their government representatives to ask that they vote not to allocate your tax dollars to PP programs. Urge your fellow pro-lifers to do the same. When government funding is cut, Planned Parenthood facilities close. The Christmas season is an excellent time to make such requests since you can point out how outraged and disgusted you are with the Planned Parenthood “Choice on Earth” card, objecting to how your money goes to an anti-Christian baby-killing organization.

STOPP also asks you to prayerfully consider spending time this coming year peacefully praying and picketing in front of your nearest Planned Parenthood facility, whether or not that particular facility performs surgical abortions. Such protests are one of the most effective means of opposing Planned Parenthood. An excellent day for pro-lifers to begin such praying and picketing is December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which recalls those innocent children killed by Herod in an attempt to kill Jesus. Please remember in your prayers the more than three million innocent children killed by Planned Parenthood by post-implantation abortion procedures since 1970, as well as the countless others deprived of life by the contra-implantation effects of PP-provided drugs and devices. This carnage is the result of Planned Parenthood’s deadly campaign for “choice on earth.”

Please read the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 10, and please say a prayer for STOPP. May God bless your efforts. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Bells for babies

Over the last few years, a custom has spread across the United States to ring bells on January 22 in commemoration of the children who have died by surgical abortion. At noon on January 22, those who wish to remember the unborn are encouraged to participate in the ringing of the bells to remember the estimated 43 million babies killed since 1973 by abortion procedures. Ask your church or town to join this year.

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