The reality that Planned Parenthood’s clients are leaving in droves should be telling to policy makers.
By Mike Fichter
Editor’s note. Mr. Fichter is President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. This appeared in the Indianapolis Star.
Betty Cockrum, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky
There’s something ironic about giving a “lifetime” achievement award to the head of Indiana’s largest abortion business. Yet Betty Cockrum, outgoing executive of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK), will have at least two “Lifetime Achievement” awards for her mantle from organizations sad to see her go.
Cockrum retired Friday after 15 years with Planned Parenthood. With all the praises being directed her way, we wondered: is Planned Parenthood in Indiana a stronger organization today?
We reviewed the last 10 years of fiscal year reports, publicly-available on Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky’s website. (Planned Parenthood of Indiana acquired Kentucky in 2013).
Supporters of Planned Parenthood should be troubled by what we found.
From 2007 to 2016, total patient visits to Cockrum’s Planned Parenthood dropped by 180,000 visits, or 60 percent. In 2007, Planned Parenthood of Indiana had 97,900 unduplicated patients. In 2016, unduplicated patients dropped to only 51,100 in both Indiana and Kentucky.
Nearly half of PPINK’s client base has left them.
In 2007, one could argue Planned Parenthood cared about sexual disease testing and preventative care. That year Planned Parenthood of Indiana did 50,100 pap tests, 41,500 chlamydia tests, 41,600 gonorrhea tests and 7,200 HIV tests.
Ten years later, pap tests fell 90 percent to just 5,300 tests. Chlamydia and gonorrhea tests were down 40 percent while HIV tests were down 14 percent.
Can you guess what isn’t down? Abortions. Over 10 years, Planned Parenthood managed to increase abortions in the Hoosier state by 5 percent, even while abortions are on the decline on the state and national levels.
Planned Parenthood averages more than 5,100 abortions a year in Indiana. While every other procedure category declined from 2007 to 2016, Planned Parenthood continued to convince women to end their pregnancies.
You know who is likely not troubled by these numbers? Anyone who stands with Planned Parenthood purely on their passionate advocacy for abortion.
Planned Parenthood’s new business model doesn’t have them getting bogged down with non-abortion services. If a location isn’t profiting, it’s easy to shut it down. Since 2007, Planned Parenthood has closed 18 of 35 locations in Indiana. Unsurprisingly, none of the shuttered locations did abortions.
PPINK will tell you they shut down 18 sites for financial reasons. But revenue to the abortion business has stayed pretty constant over 10 years, ranging between $13.7 and $16.6 million. They have plenty of money to operate sites in rural areas of Indiana, like Scott County where HIV rates skyrocketed, if only they wanted. But it’s easier for Planned Parenthood to focus on abortion and blame Mike Pence for an HIV outbreak.
Planned Parenthood loves to argue they need taxpayer funds because women will have nowhere else to go if they are defunded. Do they really think their dwindling 51,100 patients in Indiana and Kentucky will miss them? Taxpayers don’t need to be subsidizing a business that only sees .005 percent of the states’ population.
Indiana has more than 3,600 federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, Medicaid providers and Title V clinics, located throughout the state’s 92 counties. Women get better preventative care and more comprehensive care at non-Planned Parenthood facilities.
Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky’s new CEO has her work cut out for her. She somehow has to keep up the façade that Planned Parenthood cares about women’s health and needs taxpayer funding. The reality that Planned Parenthood’s clients are leaving in droves should be telling to policy makers. Planned Parenthood’s focus is abortion.