August 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The pro-life charity watchdog 2ndVote is responding to the charity United Way’s insistence that “only a small number” of its chapters support abortion company Planned Parenthood, with a video highlighting the human cost of that money.
Last week, 2ndVote released a report finding that United Way chapters in 29 states sent $2.7 million to Planned Parenthood in 2016, an increase of $166,000 from the year before. United Way bills itself as a non-political charity dedicated to improving people’s health, income, and education worldwide.
United Way responded by releasing a statement passing off any culpability for supporting the abortion giant to “individual United Ways with the input of local leaders and community stakeholders.” It claimed the parent organization doesn’t exercise control over the funding decisions of local chapters, of which “only a small number” give “direct support to Planned Parenthood.”
In a video released Thursday morning, 2ndVote points out that the support of those chapters was still enough to kill thousands of innocent children.
“The $2.7 million United Way gave in 2016 pays for at least 2,901 abortions,” the screen reads, as a background of baby pictures zooms out to visualize the number. The sound of a heartbeat plays as well. “Does that look like ‘only a small number’ to you?”
“The tone-deafness of United Way’s ‘small number’ claim is made worse by the fact that the rest of their statement uses Planned Parenthood’s double-speak to defend the donations,” 2ndVote added. “Just as Planned Parenthood claims that it does more than just abortions with its taxpayer and corporate funding, United Way argued that funding abortion is offset by ‘counseling services’ and ‘family planning.’”
“On the surface, United Way appears to be a good source of charity. However, Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider receives donations from United Way,” said Priests for Life’s Dr. Alveda King, the niece of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “You decide: don’t people need to know when their money is funding child-killing?”
Planned Parenthood received more than $543 million from the federal government, $318 million in private revenue, and more than $532 million in private donations in fiscal year 2016-2017, according to its most recent annual report. It killed 321,384 preborn babies via abortion during that time period.
As the pro-life Radiance Foundation details, under the leadership of Planned Parenthood’s most recent CEO, Cecile Richards, the abortions it committed rose almost 11 percent while actual medical services for women sharply declined. Breast cancer screenings dropped by 62 percent, pap tests by 72 percent, and prenatal care by 30 percent. The pro-life group Live Action has caught Planned Parenthoods across the country denying women basic prenatal care, saying they only provide services like ultrasounds for abortion. Live Action called and visited 97 Planned Parenthood facilities that are part of all 41 regional Planned Parenthood affiliates across the United States where undercover recording is legal. Ninety-two out of 97 turned away women seeking prenatal care.
Between Planned Parenthood’s involvement in abortion and decreasing interest in legitimate healthcare, pro-lifers argue that women would be best served by defunding the organization and redirecting its subsidies to alternate healthcare providers, which dramatically outnumber Planned Parenthood locations in every state.
“United Way’s claim is made worse because its mission statement claims that it ‘improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good,’” 2ndVote concluded. “Not by donating to Planned Parenthood, you don’t.”
The group’s website provides a comprehensive breakdown of United Way chapters and their abortion funding in every state, dating back to tax year 2013, current as of August 21, 2018.