Planned Parenthood, in its latest fiscal year, performed 345,672 abortions, an increase of 12,915 from the year before, according to its 2018-2019 annual report published over the weekend.
Abortions now comprise 4% of Planned Parenthood services, an increase from 3.4% the year before. The organization calculates that percentage by individually counting out its 9.8 million services, from abortion to adoption referrals, pregnancy tests, vasectomies, and pap tests.
The annual report does not indicate the amount of revenue collected from providing abortions. Some health insurance companies or state governments cover abortions, other women receive financial help, and others pay out of pocket.
In all, Planned Parenthood saw 2.4 million patients across the United States. The largest percentage of services were for sexually transmitted infections, which comprise half of Planned Parenthood’s overall services, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from the year before. Next-highest is contraception, at 26%, which represents a drop of 1.1 percentage points from the year before. An additional 6% of medical services performed were for cancer screenings and prevention.
The report landed as Planned Parenthood is under pressure from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress, who say that the organization should not receive government funding because it provides abortions. By law, federal funding is not allowed to go toward abortions, with limited exemptions, but critics say that funding the other services frees up dollars for abortions.
The report shows that Planned Parenthood received $616 million in funding from states and the federal government, compared with $563 million the previous year. Because the report logs information through the fiscal year that ended in June, it’s not yet clear what will happen to government funding under a Trump administration rule that went into effect later, that says organizations who get funding for family planning cannot directly refer to abortions.
The organization’s overall revenues fell by about $17.5 million, to $1.4 billion, largely because of a drop in private contributions. Individual contributors, which excludes corporation contributions and foundation grants, dropped by roughly 400,000 people.
Planned Parenthood faced internal turmoil last year. In July, it fired its president, Dr. Leana Wen, after only eight months on the job. Wen, the former health commissioner in Baltimore, said on social media that she disagreed with the direction of the organization, which she said had decided to focus its mission on politics rather than on healthcare.
States have been changing abortion laws, some to make them more restrictive and others to liberalize them. Conservative states have tried to pass laws to ban abortions early in pregnancy, and, on the other side of the spectrum, liberal states loosened restrictions on abortions late in pregnancy. Planned Parenthood has supported reductions in restrictions and is in favor of letting the government pay for abortions.
“As we push forward our mission to deliver care in the year ahead, we will also be at the forefront of challenging unconstitutional laws whenever they are passed — just as we will continue to champion policies that give patients even more access to care, from codifying the right to abortion into state law to making it easier to get birth control,” the organization said in its report.
The report drew the ire of abortion foes.
“Once again, Planned Parenthood’s own numbers show abortion and profit are their top priorities,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion organization that is influential with the Trump administration.
Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. The organization launched a campaign last year to highlight the various medical services it provides at its clinics.
