The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Mar. 2 in one of the most
important abortion cases it has considered in years. At issue are two
provisions in HB2, a bill former Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed into law
in July 2013. The bill requires abortionists to have admitting
privileges within 30 miles of a hospital and mandates all abortion
facilities meet ambulatory surgical center (ASC) standards. The law also
bans abortions after 20 weeks (with certain rare exceptions, not
including rape) and adds restrictions for chemical abortions.
The plaintiffs in Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole contend the new
regulations cause “undue burdens” that place “substantial obstacles” on
women seeking abortion. Perhaps more important to the plaintiffs,
though, is the consequence of laws like HB2, which “burden” their
abortion businesses with costly requirements.
But thanks in part to a seemingly endless supply of taxpayer money,
Planned Parenthood—the nation’s largest abortion provider—is spending
its way out of state regulations and expanding its market share in the
process.
Unable to pay for improvements required under the new law, several
Texas abortion facilities closed in the months after HB2 took effect.
Building a new surgical abortion center typically costs between $6
million and $8 million, while retrofitting an existing building to meet
ASC standards costs an estimated $1.5 million.
Whole Woman’s Health, an abortion business with facilities located
mainly in the southwestern United States, blames the restrictions in HB2
for forcing the permanent closure of its centers in Austin and
Beaumont, two of five it operates in Texas.
Planned Parenthood, on the other hand, is on a building spree around
the country. Even in Texas, where pro-life governors and majority
pro-life legislatures have enacted some of the toughest abortion
regulations in the country, Planned Parenthood is expanding its
business, thanks to multiple revenue streams.
Although the Hyde Amendment prohibits states from using federal
Medicaid money to pay for abortions, states can use their taxpayer
dollars to cover the procedures, adding money to Planned Parenthood’s
coffers. The abortion juggernaut also has plenty of donors with deep
pockets helping to fund new building projects.
“They generally have capital campaigns to raise money for expansion,”
pro-life activist Abby Johnson told me. Johnson once worked for Planned
Parenthood but walked away from her job as the director of its facility
in Bryan, Texas, in 2009. (Planned Parenthood closed that center the day
Perry signed HB2 into law.)
But Planned Parenthood’s Texas expansion began before HB2 and has
continued after the law took effect. Just over five years ago, it opened
a new, $26 million Houston center, alternately described as the largest
or second-largest abortion facility in the world, with the capacity to
abort well in excess of 7,000 babies annually.
In 2013, Planned Parenthood built a $6.5 million center in Fort Worth that also meets ASC regulations.
“Our facility in Fort Worth was not impacted by [HB2],” Kelly Hart,
senior director of government relations for Planned Parenthood of
Greater Texas, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2014. Planned
Parenthood did not return multiple calls requesting comment for this
story.
Last year, Planned Parenthood left its longtime San Antonio
headquarters, which did not meet ASC standards, and moved into a new
$6.5 million building that complies with the regulations. One report
indicates the San Antonio center will be able to handle almost 3,000
surgical abortions a year.
Planned Parenthood’s new Texas construction projects come in spite of a
recent drop in the state’s abortion rate. The annual number of
abortions in Texas dropped from 77,374 in 2005 to just under 64,000 in
2013, the last year for which data was published.
Nationwide, in spite of closing more than 120 of its centers between
2005 and 2011, including some in Texas, Planned Parenthood increased the
number of annual abortions it performed during that period from about
265,000 to 334,000.
In fact, Planned Parenthood appears to be cornering the market on
abortion. While the annual number of abortions in the United States
dropped by 100,000 between 2009 and 2011, the total number of abortions
at Planned Parenthood centers across the country essentially remained
steady. That means the abortion giant’s market share is rising. In 2009
Planned Parenthood performed 28.85 percent of the nation’s abortions.
The next year, it performed 29.87 percent, and in 2011, the number rose
to 31.55 percent.
With more than 700 centers around the country, Planned Parenthood has
the resources to withstand local political fluctuations. While
pro-lifers are praying for a victory at the high court, abortion
restrictions in Texas and other states are having an unintended
consequence: Planned Parenthood is poised to fill the vacuum left by
closing centers, gobbling up abortion real estate its smaller
competitors cannot afford to maintain.
Courtesy: WORLD News Service
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