Thursday, January 4, 2018

How Much Does an Abortion Cost in the United States?

 NATIONAL   CHERYL SULLENGER   JAN 3, 2018   |   1:17PM    WASHINGTON, DC
Across America, the amount of time women waited to have an abortion dropped, while the average price of an abortion rose. These trends were documented during an annual survey of abortion facilities conducted by Operation Rescue.
The survey took place from November 27-December 15, 2017. Using a number of investigative methods, each abortion facility was directly contacted. Facility personnel voluntarily verified that abortions were available, and shared information on abortion pricing and wait times, although they were not aware the information was going to Operation Rescue.
Wait times decreased
Despite dire predictions from the Abortion Cartel that pro-life legislation would result in increased wait times for abortions, the opposite is actually true. In 2017, the national average time a woman waited to get an abortion was 7.7 days. That represents a decrease from 2015, when the national average time waited for an abortion was 8.5 days.
Wait times were measured from the day a caller initially contacted an abortion facility for an appointment, until the day when the abortion would have taken place.
This year, at surgical facilities, women waited an average of 6.85 days for a surgical abortion, and 6.38 days to get a medication abortion at a surgical facility.
In contrast, women were required to wait 9.33 days — nearly three days longer — to get a medication abortion at facilities that offered only that type.
Two states with the longest waiting times for abortion appointments were West Virginia at 25 days, and Montana at 23.5 days. This likely reflects that low demand for abortion in those states, making it unprofitable to schedule abortions with greater frequency.
Two states with the shortest wait times were Vermont, which would conduct an abortion on a woman the day after her initial phone call, and Nevada, with an average wait of 1.2 days.
Many abortion facility scheduling receptionists – primarily with Planned Parenthood affiliates — refused to answer questions about the abortions or inform callers when abortion appointments were available. Instead, the schedulers insisted that women go through a lengthy phone interview that required providing detailed personal and health information. After the interview, women would then be given a preliminary appointment.
Women were told that they would have questions answered at the preliminary appointment. Only then would they be told when their abortions were scheduled.
This convoluted appointment practice had the effect of keeping abortion customers in the dark. It demeaned the callers by treating them with suspicion, and denied them information that was important for decision-making. One scheduler admitted that the extra appointment and level of secrecy was to prevent pro-life protesters from finding out when abortions were taking place.
“As much as the abortionists complain about state mandated reflection periods and other pro-life laws, Planned Parenthood facilities across the nation are actually the ones making women jump through a complex series of hoops before they can even receive answers to their questions about abortion. This paranoia actually works in our favor, and likely helps save lives,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
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Abortion prices rose
Operation Rescue has included first trimester abortion pricing in its survey for the past three years. Overall, the national average cost of an early abortion has steadily increased since 2015. In 2017, women paid an average of $595.67 for a first trimester abortion. This this reflects a three percent price hike over what women paid just two years ago.
Surgical abortions up to 12 weeks were the costliest of early abortion methods, averaging $616.16 nationally in 2017. Yet, that price was down about 2% since last year.
Medication abortions, (generally done through 9-10 weeks), received at clinics that also conducted surgical abortions have held firm in price at $579 since 2015.
However, there has been a dramatic price increase for medication abortions received from facilities that only dispense abortion drugs. In 2017, the national average cost of an abortion at a medication-only facility was $592, up about 6% since 2015.
This means that medication abortion facilities not only make women wait longer for their abortions, but also charge them more.
This price increase was ironic since, in many states, the abortion pill-only facilities have lower overhead and are able to avoid licensing requirements that may drive up prices. Some states, such as California, have attempted to reduce costs even farther by allowing non-physicians to prescribe abortion drugs. Medication abortion-only facilities have been favored by abortion businesses, particularly Planned Parenthood, as a stated means of keeping abortion costs down, but data shows that these facilities are actually driving up the price of an abortion.
Abortion prices varied, sometimes greatly, from state to state.
The two states with the highest average price for a first trimester surgical abortion were Massachusetts and Wyoming. Massachusetts’ average surgical abortion cost $1,223.30, while in Wyoming, the average surgical abortion fee was $1,099.00. The two states with the lowest price for surgical abortions were the District of Columbia at $410, and Maryland at $419.
The two states with the highest average cost of a medication abortion at a medication-only facility were Alaska at $800, and Colorado at $791.20. Missouri had the lowest average price for a medication abortion in the nation at $384.80, followed by Pennsylvania at $445.
“This is another case where Planned Parenthood is ‘talking north and walking south.’ There is obviously exploitative profit-taking occurring at the medication abortion-only facilities, where overhead is the lowest,” said Newman. “For Planned Parenthood, it is always about the money.”
Conclusions
Operation Rescue’s 2017 survey results reveal new insights into abortion trends.
The new data shows that abortion facility numbers continue to shrink at the same time that abortion wait times are dropping. This debunks the notion that fewer abortion facilities will lead to higher wait times.
Meanwhile, the price of an abortion is rising most in the area where there is the least overhead. This shows clearly that pro-life legislation is not necessarily the lone factor in driving up abortion prices. In fact, according to the new data, greed is a primary factor that is driving up prices and increasing profits for abortion businesses.
“Our data reflects the most accurate numbers available for abortion costs and wait times,” said Newman. “The data exposes the deceptive rhetoric of the Abortion Cartel, which has resorted to lies and exploitation to keep their failing businesses afloat. The truth is that more and more women are rejecting abortion in favor of life – and that has the Abortion Cartel running scared.”
LifeNews.com Note: Cheryl Sullenger is a leader of Operation Rescue.

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Planned Parenthood Report: Prenatal Care Down 75%, Contraception Down 30%, Abortions Stay the Same

 NATIONAL   RANDY O'BANNON, PH.D.   JAN 3, 2018   |   5:43PM    WASHINGTON, DC
In the opening “Message from Our Leadership,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards and Board chair Naomi Aberly tell supporters “despite the historic threat to our mission ….as we enter our 101st year, we are stronger and bolder than ever before.”
When it comes to their bottom line, this is true. As we will preliminarily discuss today and in more depth tomorrow, that case is more mixed when it comes to other areas of Planned Parenthood’s activities.
REVENUES
Let’s start with 2009 as a point of comparison. Revenues in 2009 for the nation’s largest abortion provider were $1,100,800,000.
This latest report, “The 2016-17 Annual Report of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America” pegs revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017 at $1,459,600,000.
That is nearly a nearly a billion and a half dollars—and an increase of more than a $100 million above last year’s revenues, which themselves were a record.
Yet in 2016, PPFA’s affiliates performed about seven thousand fewer abortions –321,384 abortions– than the year before. This is very noteworthy because while abortions in the U.S. have thankfully decreased by almost a quarter (23%) since 2008, abortions at Planned Parenthood have remained largely stable, hovering in the 320,000-334,000 range since 2008. While this recent number is at the low end of that range, it does not appear to be an indicator of a new significant downward trend. Planned Parenthood works hard to maintain its lucrative abortion business, even in a down market.
GENUINE PATIENT CARE
If one compares annual PPFA reports over time, it’s easy to see that while abortions remain essentially unchanged, the number of patients treated for anything else continue to plunge.
In 2008, PPFA affiliates were seeing 3 million patients a year. Today, they see only 2.4 million—a huge drop of 20%.
PPFA’s highly publicized “cancer screenings” fell by almost 2/3rds–from 1,830,811 in 2009 to just 660,777 in 2016.
What about contraception services? They dropped from 3,868,901 in 2009 to 2,701,866 in 2016—a 30% tumble.
How about their much vaunted (but barely existent) prenatal services? From 40,489 in 2009 to just 7,762 in 2016—a decline of more than 3/4s.
This means that Planned Parenthood is somehow making more money with fewer patients. That could be done by charging patients more for services, or closing underperforming clinics and firing unproductive managers.
Of course, Planned Parenthood still receives a healthy portion of its funding from federal state and local grants and payments. Several states have tried to cut these funds, and they were down about $10 million this year over last. But those sources still provided a hefty $543.7 million, or 37% of its total in revenues, according to the report.
“Non-governmental health services revenues” (money from patients or insurance plans not managed by the government)? That rose slightly, about $11 million, to $318.1 million for 2017.
So where did the bulk of the increased revenue came from? Surges in private giving seen in the last two annual reports.
Private giving was $353.5 million in 2015. A year later it had jumped to $445.8 million. In 2017 the figure had risen to $532.7 million.
This is a clear indication that Planned Parenthood has been able to turn well founded criticism against their reputation and their industry to their own financial advantage. It also illustrates, ironically, that there are non-governmental sources that PPFA can tap into if states chose to prioritize health funding to full service clinics.
Whether PPFA can continue to make money while losing patients only time will tell. But one things the numbers from this latest annual report tell us: Planned Parenthood, though struggling to hold on to customers, is still rich and dangerous foe.
LifeNews.com Note: Randall O’Bannon, Ph.D., is the director of education and research for the National Right to Life Committee. This column originally appeared at NRL News Today.

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New Study Proves Feminists Wrong: Women Say Their Abortion Was Not Liberating

 NATIONAL   MICAIAH BILGER   JAN 3, 2018   |   6:30PM    WASHINGTON, DC
A new study of post-abortive women across the United States found that women suffer from long-term negative emotions after aborting their unborn babies.
The research was based on an anonymous online survey of 987 women who contacted a crisis pregnancy center for post-abortion care. The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons published the study in its Winter 2017 edition.
Led by Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a professor at Bowling Green State University, the researchers asked women about the “most significant positive and negative aspects” of their abortions.
“… their responses were far from simple, echoing themes that are not reflective of contemporary feminist rhetoric,” the researchers wrote. “Women generally did not speak of empowerment, the ability to control their reproductive destinies, liberation from abusive partners, the need for abortion in order to be competitive in the workplace, etc.
“To the contrary, … many women expressed no personal benefits of the experience. Scores of others reported spiritual growth, involvement in pro-life efforts, and reaching out to other women who were considering the procedure or had obtained an abortion.”
Generally, women reported good psychological health prior to their first abortion. Afterward, however, a significant number of women sought professional mental health services (67.5 percent compared to 13 percent prior to the abortion), and used prescription drugs for their psychological health (51 percent compared to 6.6 percent prior).
Many women also faced strong societal pressure to abort their unborn babies, even though many said they remained unsure about their abortion up through the day of the procedure.
According to the study, “58.3% of the women reported aborting to make others happy, 73.8% disagreed that their decision to abort was entirely free from even subtle pressure from others to abort, 28.4% aborted out of fear of losing their partner if they did not abort.”
When asked about the most significant positives of their abortion, 31.6 percent of women said there were none, and another 22 percent did not answer the question.
The most significant negative reported was that they took a life/loss of a life or lives, at 23.7 percent. Others reported depression, guilt, self-hatred, addictions, self-destructive behaviors, anxiety and suicidal thoughts/tendencies.
“At the extreme, 49 women voiced a lack of desire to continue living based on the reality of their
choice and the heartache that ensued,” the researchers wrote. “The vast majority of women did not cite only one or two negative outcomes, but instead described a complex constellation of adverse consequences, often centered on the life lost.”
When asked about positive aspects of their abortions, many women said the “excruciating pain” that they went through gave them a desire to help other women make better choices for themselves and their unborn babies. They fulfilled this by volunteering at pregnancy centers and pro-life groups, sharing their abortion stories publicly and helping other post-abortive women heal.
Others said their abortions deepened their spiritual lives.
“The one positive is that it has brought me to my end and brought me to my knees before God” was a common theme among the women.
The study included women who ranged in age from their 20s to 70s. Most women reported having one abortion; the largest number reported was nine abortions.
The study was published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 22 Number 4 Winter 2017 113.

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