Planned Parenthood performed 332,278 abortions in the United States in 2009, according to a fact sheet the group published last month.
That is about as many as the 333,012 people who lived in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 332,278 abortions Planned Parenthood performed over the 365 days of 2009 equals an average of 910 lives terminated per day–or about 38 per hour, or one every 95 seconds.
CNS News also points out that 90 percent of Planned Parenthood’s $363.2 million came directly from the federal government–or from Medicaid, which is a federal-state program. And that’saccording to Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Tait Sye.
With that in mind, it’s no wonder that Planned Parenthood’s funding has become a hot topic on Capitol Hill, as the budgeting stalemate threatens to shut down the government.
In the budget maelstrom that threatened to partially shut the federal government Friday stood Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a 90-year-old organization now part of a decades-long congressional battle over abortion.
Republicans want any legislation keeping the government operating to bar federal dollars for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions. They want to distribute the money to the states.
Meanwhile, Democrats are intent on maintaining a steady stream of federal funding to the organization. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius bizarrely reasoned that cutting funding to Planned Parenthood would actually increase the number of abortions womenwould have:
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had some strong words for House Republicans as Democrats said the continuing budget negotiations were held up over Title X and Planned Parenthood funding.
“I think it’s really unfortunate Congress can’t come to a resolution on this year’s budget . . . cutting [Title X] funding would increase the number of unintended pregnancies and increase the number of abortions, so the people who say they’re having this battle about abortion are actually not looking at what the statistics have indicated,” Sebelius told POLITICO Friday. “Federal funds have never supported abortion, do not support abortion, will not support abortion.”
She credited Democratic leaders for their work on the negotiations and said she hoped they would “resolve this issue today.”
“There is an agreement generally on the budget number. I think the Democrats have come a long to say, ‘We’re willing to restrict resources in a smart way but we’re not going to slash programs that slash education and innovation and important health services.’ To have these ideological battles make no sense at all in this budget context,” she said.
Speaking about proposed GOP cuts to Planned Parenthood’s funding, Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, said today that, ”This is an opportunity for the right wing in the House to really sock it to women.”
Senator Chuck Schumer added that any proposed cuts to Planned Parenthood that would pass the House are “never, never, never going to pass the Senate.”
“The dangerous, ideological cuts to Planned Parenthood that passed the House are never, never, never going to pass the Senate,” said Schumer. “Let me repeat that, so all those who want to stomp on women’s health and women’s rights can hear us loud and clear. The dangerous, ideological cuts to Planned Parenthood that passed the House are never, never, never going to pass the Senate.”
Via Weasel Zippers.
For related coverage, check out our story on how a botched Planned Parenthood abortion sent one woman to the ER.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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